Yep that’s right, we are VBS junkies all the way. The DeLucca family sure enjoyed it this year. It took us almost the whole weekend to recover from it but boy did we have fun! I had the privilege of teaching Sammy’s class of “two”s but really most of them were three. Sammy actually has declared he is three ever since then. Anytime I tell him he is 2 he says “no I free now”. Our little class was so sweet and one night we had a total of 11 kids! It got chaotic a few times but for the most part the kids were very well behaved and soaked up our little Bible stories and lessons like sponges. We related each craft to their Bible story and I was amazed at the end of the night when we would chat about what we learned just how much they had retained. It can be hard with this age to really see the big picture of how us spending a few hours a night for only one week of their lives may actually impact them. I trust that we helped to build a biblical foundation for each of them from which they can continue to learn more about Jesus and how he created them perfectly and loves them so unconditionally.
Super Sam (that is what Sam makes all kids we work with call him, that’s right, he forgoes the Mr. Sam and goes straight to Super Sam) never ceases to amaze me every time we teach children or teens together. He is really gifted in this area and the kids just eat up all of his antics. He makes every single aspect fun and extra silly while still remaining firm when needed. They naturally flock to him and he keeps them giggling. Heck, he taught himself how to make balloon animals by watching free videos online and then practiced all year just to be able to make them for the kids in Guatemala last year. I think we make a perfect team and really compliment each other well when we teach kids.
I have to share one funny story. I absolutely LOVED our prayer time with the kids. It was so sweet and every single night it was so hard to lead them in a prayer without cracking up. Their little prayer requests were too funny. Sure we always prayed for families and the typical stuff but we also prayed for Mickey Mouse, Dora and Nintendo DS and for the dolphins in the ocean. One cutie little boy prayed very faithfully every single night for “Don-gee-as” pronounced just how I spelled it. I repeated it each night about 3 times and he would correct me sounding frustrated and I never knew exactly what it was I was praying for or saying. Finally, the last night while putting together a puzzle I heard him exclaim “DONGEAS!” and I realized it was a tractor. I asked his mom for clarification and she confirmed. He is a touch obsessed with tractors so we had been praying for John Deere each night without even realizing it! Gotta love him!
Sammy has asked every single morning since VBS ended if we can go to VBS that night. He says he misses his “new VBS pecial buddies”. The theme this year was Saddleback Ranch so our church was transformed into a ranch for the week with hay bales and horses, saddles, and all kind of decorations everywhere. The first time he saw the freshly decorated stage he exclaimed “Oh that’s Jesus’s tractor up dere?” and said he wanted to pray that he could ride on it.
He also loves dressing up in his “VBS clothes” . He made a cowboy vest (from a paper bag) that he was very proud of and binoculars (from toilet paper rolls) and they all got cowboy hats and bandanas too. Now if only I had jumped in the pics below with my VBS tshirt and matching tote bag (thanks again April!) we would have been quite the pair!
Sammy went on a cart ride with my friend Jill and her daughters Claire and Kate, he talked about it all night
…..and they’re off! actually a more appropriate caption would be “blast off”.. that cart went super fast, I was so glad Jill was on there holding on to them!
Jill’s other daughter Gracie chose to do the actual pony ride. She loved every moment of it and grinned from ear to ear the whole ride!
