Refreshed

Over the weekend I went down to Alabama for the Athens/Atlanta VBS.  I was living there for the first two they did together and it was a highlight of my year both times.  They didn't have one last year because of tornado cleanup.  I was down there in January when they were starting to plan and after clearing my throat loudly and smiling sweetly I was extended an invitaion:)

The first order of business was to spend some time with Devin.  I hadn't seen him since January.  We did our usual lunch and putt-putt date, then we made cookies that I took to VBS.  I gave him some too of course.

Friday night as usual was getting settled and rekindling old friendships.  And playing euchre until 1:15 in the morning.  Saturday morning we had the group talk.  Our theme was The Solid Rock.  The group activity was to build a city with paper, toothpicks, popsicle sticks and tape.

Once our cities were built, we took turns being the "storms of life" to the other team's cities.  We tried knocking them down by blowing q-tips through straws.  There was only one team whose city really stood the test.  Not only did they have a firm foundation (the rest of us did, too) but all their buildings were banded together with popsicle sticks.  Thus creating another spiritual analogy of unity in the body of Christ.

Then we split up and the adults had discussion time and the kids had their lesson time.  I got to teach the younger kids.  We had 13 kids ranging from the youngest cutie patooties to the 10-11 year olds. 

It was a fun lesson to do, complete with a demonstration of a house on a rock vs a house on sand and what happens when the rains come.  Or in this case- a pitcher of water.  We also had the inevitable discussion of "Sarah, how old are you? 29?  Almost 30?  And you're not married?!?!?!?!"  Which led to the boy on the left offer to play matchmaker.  How thoughful of him:)  They were a great group of kids.

After lunch was the much anticipated lake time!  I have yet to do the giant iceberg.  It's so high and steep!  After the fact there was just the slightest twinge of regret for not bucking up and doing it.  Maybe next year I'll conquer my fears!  I did do the slide though so it wasn't a complete loss.  The blob as usual was a big hit for the kids.

After swimming we did a group "build-a-boat" project.  We were divided into teams again and each team was given a pile of junk to build a boat with.  This is an activity set up by the camp we go to.  They said that roughly only 10% of boats actually float.  So we were pretty excited when all five teams were successful. 

Each boat was put to the test then.  My little matchmaker was on my team and since he was the smallest one he was dubbed captain of the "Cuban Cruiseship".  We had a race, too, against all the other teams.  I feel no need to mention the fact that our team came in 5th place.....

Saturday night we played volleyball and putt-putt, shared testimonies, ate lots of snacks, played more euchre and enjoyed more sweet fellowship which resulted in a 2:15 bedtime.  Needless to say, the 10.5 hour drive home was looooonnnnng and tiring.  And Monday morning I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

And then throw in one more picture of me and Bekah.  I wish I would have taken a few more people pictures but that's okay.  Most of you probably don't know them anyway and I know what they look like I guess:)

Even though the nights were short and the roads were long, it was so worth it.  I definitely came back feeling refreshed inside.  Got my calendar marked for next year!