Mentally and Physically Exhausted, but So Worth It

The Friday slide show is live!

I loved Grex’s reaction when he saw the opening slides of the t-shirt graphics I had made for the Assembly Team. He said, “Cool! Where’d you get that?” The look on his face when I said I made it myself was priceless! VBS can be so tiring, but the creative juices it gets going can be so fun too! After spending weeks writing scripts and working with my awesome teen drama team, I’m mentally and physically exhausted! Want to see the slide show? If you forgot the username and password and you’re a member of my church or a family participating in VBS, send me an email or call the church office for information on how to get to the show.

Above, Leo was having fun with the 3rd and 4th grade class just before the closing celebration. It’s so cool to see how the kids grow to love that puppet character every year. It touches my heart, too, knowing that it’s my son who gives life to the character. Brad did such a great job as the voice of Leo!

Leo was such a popular feature of this year’s space theme that today after his final performance during Children’s Time at church, some of the kids were asking if they could keep Leo for a while. And one of the moms asked where she could buy a Leo puppet! I suppose the answer to that is that you could try scoping out churches who used the Galactic Blast VBS theme (from Cokesbury). It’s likely that various puppets will show up on eBay eventually. The real name of the puppet is Galileo. We shortened the name of our puppet, rewrote all the assembly scripts, made up our own key phrases, like “God is everywhere — hear God” instead of “Our God is awesome — praise God.” We wanted our kids to internalize a message that had a more practical meaning in their everyday lives. In the end, I think our messages really worked with the space theme too. I was so happy to see that the senior pastor of our church used the “God is Everywhere” theme in his sermon today!

Each class collected a sign bearing each day’s theme on one side and “God is Everywhere” on the back so that by the end of the week when all the signs were held up, the visual impact would be the random placement of “God” signs everywhere you looked. It was really cool! (Though I have to admit, carrying the signs around got to be a pain for the teachers because the kids were always fighting over who got to carry it. For next year, we are going to come up with a better solution for that problem.)

There is absolutely no way to write in words how exciting the final day’s assembly was when, with the help of a bunch of youth leaders, Leo’s pod “blasted off.” It was the best closing assembly we’ve ever done, and the best part about it was that it absolutely low tech in every way imaginable. The youth made the “launch screen” out of taped together trash bags. Brad made the launch signs with spray paint and stencils at midnight the night before. The launch noise was aided by a plastic vuvuzela and crinkling those foily space blankets while I stood before the Sanctuary full of kids egging them on to make lots of noise. It really was SO exciting! The kids loved it when the sheet came down and Leo had moved into the space pod! And then when the “launch” happened, again with the low tech sheet and lots of noise, and Leo and the pod were GONE when the sheet came down, the kids were oooohing and aaaaaahing just like they would have been if we’d had some giant dust cloud and grand sound effects. Just goes to show you that a little imagination can go a long way!

Speaking of youth leaders, my photo assistant, Gabe Francobandiero, did an excellent job again this year. I love this picture he took of Brad when the assembly was over and Brad was introduced as the voice of Leo. I love the composition that includes the rocket, and it was a perfect moment to capture Brad’s humble expression. (Brad doesn’t yet realize what an AMAZING talent he has as a puppeteer.) Gabe, you did a great job on so many of the pictures used in the slide shows! Thank you!

This is one of the hardest shots to get. Half sun, half shade, 200 people with lots of hot, sweaty little kids who all want to be somewhere else — the firetruck was waiting off in the distance to spray them. And they all knew it. The last place they want to be is to be sitting on that hot sidewalk listening to me bark orders at them to move this way or that way. Too funny — but we love these shots once they’re done. That’s a LOT of people!

Could this picture say “we love the space theme” any more effectively? Love it!

She walked around holding that space shuttle like a doll for quite a while. So cute!

The moment when the firetruck begins to spray the kids is always so exciting! And I never seem to have the right lens on when they first turn on the jets. One of these days I’m going to coordinate the timing of the start of the spray with the fireman on the truck.

What could be better than a baseball field covered in mud and your parents’ blessing to play in it?

This one’s right up there with my all-time favorite VBS pictures.

I kind of got trapped on the wrong side of the water this year. But I love this shot!

Thank you, Metuchen Fire Department. You guys ROCK!

One year ago, our friend, Emily couldn’t come to VBS, but dropped by Firetruck Friday just after everyone had left. I snapped a few pictures of how radiant she was on that day.

Fast forward one year to this year’s Firetruck Friday. We were so happy that she was back at VBS and so healthy! — Isn’t she beautiful?! We love you, Emily! Your radiance inspires me to smile more!

Brad, no matter where you end up going in your adult life, I hope you always hold a special place in your heart for the fun we’ve had doing VBS together over the last 5 years. You are a very special person, I hope you know that.

By the way, the turn out for today’s Space Camp wrap-up during Children’s Time was great! The songs were beautiful and it was so nice to see so many families supporting the program by showing up on a summer Sunday after being at church all week long! Thank you!!!!!

The final slide says it all! See you all in church on Sundays, and here’s a tip about next year’s VBS plan: Are you LOVING the country bluegrass music of the Friday slide show? It’s a little bit of a hint! Register early! Our VBS fills up fast!

Interested in ordering prints from Space Camp? The gallery is UP! Leave a comment, send me email, msg me on FB or call for information on how to get to the gallery. All proceeds will benefit the youth mission trip to North Carolina for Habitat for Humanity. Last year’s gallery is back up too, in case you missed your opportunity to order prints from Camp Edge, last year’s VBS. Hurry though. It won’t be up very long.

Thank you for all your great comments about our very successful VBS program. It takes many volunteers and many hours, days and months of dedication by the church staff to pull this off every year. Special thanks, though, to Commander Nancy, our VBS coordinator and Commander Day, our music leader. I have to admit, the three of us make a pretty awesome team!