VBS and I have a love/hate relationship. It takes over my life for about 2-3 weeks every year. And by the time it actually starts, I'm ready for it to be over! Although we didn't have an earth-shattering attendance to constitute the extravagency of it all, we still managed to go above and beyond our efforts from the year before.

Last year we held VBS on Friday night and Saturday. We felt our efforts would pay off even more if we held VBS over a 4 day period. So Wednesday-Saturday was dedicated to sending kids 3 to 11 years old through a time warp, back to Nazareth when Jesus was alive. As soon as they entered "Nazareth", they were greeted at a tent, where they were assigned to a Tribe. Once in their tribe, they met for celebration time in the "main" part of Nazareth. There were sheeps, roosters, and hay galore (not pictured)!!

The rock wall pictured was the bain of many people's existence. Not only did it takes hours and hours of labor - but then fell apart at least twice before VBS actually began. I guess the good part is that it stayed together during VBS!

From celebration time, they either headed to the Marketplace, where they spent their coins to purchase food or "authentic" Nazarian souvenirs that they helped create, outside for some Nazarian games, or into my (virgin Mary's) house for some reminiscing about Jesus in the good ol' days. My nosy neighbor, Eunice, would often "interrupt" my storytelling to tell the tribes that she didn't believe any of my stories. This gave the kids an opportunity to tell her why they believed in Jesus and why they loved him. It was a ton of fun, but totally exhausting every night. I had the fortune/misfortune of doing the same skit 4 times every night. I was a pro at the end of it, for sure!! Bring it on, Babylon 2012!