Songs, Skits, and Spiritual Growth

I have a confession.  I'm a Vacation Bible School junkie.  My mom brought me to Vacation Bible School every summer for as long as I can remember.  When I got older, I acted in the opening skits, I taught the younger kids, and one year I taught the teens.  (That was the year I was playing volleyball at rec time and split open the stitches in my arm when I bumped a return!)

This year I'm taking VBS to a whole new level . . . or perhaps it's the other way around!  For the first time I'm going to be the director.  The head honcho.  The buck stops here figure.

In comparison to some of the other roles I've had to play, this does not seem to be a "big deal."  But it is.  I feel an enormous amount of responsibility . . . and a great deal of humility . . . facing this task.  I think much of this has to do with my VBS Director role model, my friend Rhoda.  (You met her in my post Of Jesus, Gems, and Double Chocolate Cookies.)

Rhoda was the quintessential VBS Director.  For one thing, she was the most organized director I ever worked under.  She ordered the Director's Kit six months before VBS.  At the first planning meeting she had the materials all laid out, a schedule solidified, and roles for everyone.  I always felt as if she were 10 steps ahead of everyone else.  If she ever got caught by surprise, I never knew it.

Above all, Rhoda prayed.  And I am convinced her praying, above and beyond her managerial and organizational talents, was responsible for so many years of successful VBSes.  (How do you pluralize VBS?!)

 So it is that as I have begun preparing for this task, I feel like an ancient disciple following his rabbi, straining to step in his exact footsteps and deliver a mirror image of his teacher.  I meticulously planned for the first meeting (although not quite meticulously enough judging from the misprints in my draft schedule . . . !).

I set up the on-line registration (which you can view at www.vacationbibleschool.com/NSBC2016), have written press releases, and have begun teaching my children the songs and hand motions.  (You can never start too soon preparing your youngsters for a lifetime of VBS fun!)

I am pretty confident of my ability to meet deadlines, wrangle volunteers, recruit attendees, and certainly run an efficient schedule.  I've done all this in different settings more times than I can count.

What worries me is the prayer.  I'm not a prayer warrior.  I should be.  I want to be.  The truth is, I've always been too darn lazy about getting on my knees and praying.  (Reference yesterday's post for more on that issue!)

This is not to say I don't pray.  I have become very adept at what I term SOS prayer: Dear Lord, please grant me patience as my daughter climbs on the arm of the chair for the fourth time in as many minutes.

Lord, have mercy as my son accidentally hits me with a plastic ukulele because he's swinging it around in circles just for the apparent joy of swinging in circles.

There is nothing wrong with SOS prayers.  In fact, I would argue that an intimate walk with the Lord is marked by SOS prayers, by the constant, fervent, half-formed prayers that emerge from complete dependence on God's strength and grace.

SOS prayers are not enough, however.  The mature Christian should be a person of PRAYER, focused, intentional intercessory prayer.  The kind of prayer exemplified by Jesus's habit of going to the hills to pray, the kind of intense, heart-wrenching prayer for himself and his people in Gethsemane.

That is where I'm lacking.  A perfect storm of personality, preoccupation, and misplaced priorities has prevented me from truly pursuing, practicing prayer.  For myself, for my children, for my ex, for my missionary friends, for my persecuted brothers and sisters around the world, for all the little irritations and overwhelming challenges of daily living I should be praying.

I can't honestly say I expect to turn into a Camel-knees Christian, one who spends hours a day in uninterrupted prayer.  But at this point, dedicating 5 or 10 consecutive minutes to prayer would be an improvement.

How about you?  Is this an area of strength for you, or one in which you struggle (like me!)?  Tonight I will pray for you.  I ask that you do the same for me.

God bless you!