Exotic yet ordinary

I'd like to believe that I haven't been posting because I've been engrossed in terribly interesting adventures and fun projects or engaged in some fascinating activity or another. Something productive that was absolutely not a waste of time and which kept me far far too busy to be bothered with things like blogging. Better yet, I'd like YOU to believe that about me. But I won't let you because it simply isn't true. Unless you just want to believe those things. In that case, far be it from me to stop you.

The one thing I do manage to do a lot of is nothing. If there is a bunch of nothing to be done, I'm your gal. And when I'm not doing that, I watch a movie or hide out behind a book or help out with a local vacation bible school program. Like the one the Methodist Church hosted with two or three other churches here in Cowtown. Fiesta! VBS, where kids age four through twelve wield scissors and glue sticks and get fired up about Jesus. The huggable donkey was not included, so the kids were a bit bummed about that. But, they did get to shout VIVA! repeatedly, and often in my ear, and that seemed to kind of make up for it.

I volunteered to help with crafts, so I got to see a lot of the wielding first hand. I didn't have much of a chance to reflect on God or how that day's craft helps kids gain a better understanding of who Jesus was/is (I kind of just give the kids the benefit of the doubt that they made the connection themselves), but my time volunteering did make me really appreciate the fact that I have just the one child rather than, say, thirty. Because then not only would I absolutely never get any sleep or have to worry about my hair (since it would have long since been yanked out), I'd have to move into a shoe.

I didn't really have a chance to see what other neat things the kids got to do when they weren't growing grass, finger painting, or making stained glass windows out of tissue paper with us. I picked up on what games they were playing, the day's bible adventures, and snacks they were eating through bits of conversation over the tissue piles. I also learned the difference between mean and evil. You see, mean is pushing a kid in the lunch line; evil is pushing a kid off a five-story building. I'd say so, yeah.

I went to vacation bible school at the First Baptist Church every summer when I was a kid. I don't remember any of the memory verses I was awarded little stars for memorizing or what crafts we did. And there were definitely no discussions of mean v. evil (mean is making women feel inferior to men in general but their husbands in particular; evil is justifying it through scripture). Mostly, I remember the songs, the snacks (cookies and kool-aid. always), and the games. Oh, and the pledges. Yeow.

Maya, lucky girl, got all the benefits of the snacks and games and crafts without having to pledge her allegiance to anything. And, aaaand! I got original art work from Little Girl to proudly display on my fridge, which was a bonus. Thanks, VBS.

But, all that is over now, so I can go back to doing nothing until something better comes up.