Our theme for 2012 was "SKY - Everything is possible with God" so I was thinking that we'd do a simple skyline as our backdrop and hang a few planes and hot-air balloons from the ceiling for our decorations. Or . . . . if my Dad was interested . . . perhaps, he would consider building us our very own airplane? You know, keeping things simple . . . :)
Fortunately for us, my Dad agreed. He recruited my talented brother Tony and together, they produced this fine avionic instrument:
Dad describes the advanced features of this aircraft from Lauren Niebruegge on Vimeo.
The airplane was a big hit and was the focal point our stage. I can't thank my Dad and brother enough! This act of kindness is certainly appreciated not only by me, but by all of our participants that admired the plane and enjoyed it during our VBS week. The plane took many hours to construct and during the construction phase, the plane maintained residence in my parents' garage occupying valuable parking space. This was not an insignificant task. The construction of the plane consumed many hours of labor, not to mention financial resources all of which was generously donated by my Dad and brother.
Through the eyes of a parent, I can understand why my Dad wanted to build this plane. Now having gone through the transformation of becoming a parent myself, I can understand why a person would willingly endure hours of standing on a concrete floor in the heat of a garage to produce something that will bring delight to his/her child. How I've been transformed by the love and magic I've known of my three precious little boys. How much I've learned and stretched and grown in this role of motherhood and how it has gifted me with joy like no other.
My Dad was meant to be a father and a grandfather. Whether he realizes it or not, he makes magnificent airplanes for us everyday that show us how deep his love is. How much he is willing to support us. And how important faith is. What an excellent example I have to propel me into the world of motherhood.
Our week of VBS was excellent. I couldn't be happier. Really. The days leading up to the program last week left me awake at night with anxiety about what problems I would encounter, whether everyone would show up, whether we would have discipline problems to address, whether our supplies were adequate, whether I had enough volunteers and whether I would ultimately regret my decision to dive into this project head first. I had already invested a countless number of hours working through registration forms, recruiting volunteers and arranging for supplies so it was too late to back out. We were moving forward with a program that I had very little experience in and lots of things could have gone wrong.
But they didn't.
God was working through me and my volunteers every step of the way. One such example resonates in my mind. I was at the final stretch of recruiting our full-time adult volunteers and needed just one more adult to make our team complete. I prayed.
Very shortly, I received an email from the parish office regarding a mother of one of our participants who wanted to volunteer all week. I called her immediately. Not only did she want to volunteer all week, but she inquired about any other needs we had outstanding. I informed her that I was in the process of reviewing and collecting the supplies that we require for each of our stations, and I have come across a few unusual items that I am having difficulty locating such as an electric campfire (what is this and who would have such a thing?), a leaf blower (to be used during a skit), a small plastic wading pool (for which we would create giant bubbles in) and 16 turkey basters (to transfer our home-made bubble concoction from the pool to itty bitty bubble bottles) . Her response, "Lauren, I have most of those things."
Without a doubt, God was leading the way.
The curriculum that we followed was amazing. The children traveled from station to station with their "flight crews" which were lead by 7th and 8th graders. During week, we learned about Lazarus and how he got sick in our Bible Stories station (see Lazarus getting sick and his tomb below) . . .
We enjoyed awesome VBS music every day!
We got to enjoy hands-on experiments in Imagination Station (see our hover balls below) . . .
Every day, the children got to help make the snacks that we would enjoy later in the afternoon.
We also were able to enjoy a special visit from Fr. Osang's mother who lead us in a song one morning!
It was such a rewarding experience and worth every minute. I put together a slideshow to document some of the highlights of our week. The music is set to our theme song for Sky - VBS! Enjoy the slideshow and be sure to view it full-screen!
