We are having Vacation Bible School this week at our church, and every year I read an essay I had written 20+ years ago, that gets tweaked every year. Here it is...along with the Babylon Bee's guide to VBS by denomination

Everything I needed to know about Jesus, life and happiness, I learned at vacation Bible School.

You’ve seen the signs posted by the side of the road. Vacation Bible School season is here, and it has got me thinking...

There is often a difference between something that is simple and something that is easy. Losing weight is simple....burn more calories than you eat. But losing weight is not easy. But when something is hard to do, we humans are more comfortable believing the solution is complex and complicated. But often the answer is, in fact, simple.

Living according to one’s faith system can be hard. But in reality, the rules are simple. Jesus could have summed them up on an index card and given a 10 minute Powerpoint Presentation on them. And I’ve noticed these simple rules espoused each year at Vacation Bible School. I started a list of these simple lessons about life and faith from VBS, and add to it every year. Here is the list so far... living by them will make you a better…and much happier… person.

God is good and He always keeps his promises, and we should too.

People never outgrow enjoying blowing soap bubbles and watching them float in the sunlight. Some people like to blow big ones, some like to see how many bubbles they can make, some simply want to blow bigger or more bubbles than the person next to them, some hope their bubble will forever float away and never pop, some like to watch them burst. And some like to pop them on purpose...especially if somebody else made them.

A good day consists of a little work, a little play, and a little singing...with some snacking in between
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Love everybody, hug a lot, forgive anybody and share what you’ve got.

Puppies, bunnies and other sweet furry animals will make you happy.

Jesus loves the little Children, all little children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.

You can do anything if you will work on it 20 minutes a day. You can learn to sing a song, do a dance, memorize the words of a play or bible verse, play an instrument or learn a new game. Dedicate 20 minutes a day and you can do anything.

Getting wet on a hot summer day is fun.

Treat others the way you would want them to treat you.

You can make just about anything with enough popsicle sticks, yarn, beans, beads, construction paper, paint, orange juice cans, clay, cotton balls, sparkles, tape and Elmer’s glue. Learn to work with the ordinary things you have. Take them and add your time, your attention and your love and you will be surprised what things of beauty you can make out of ordinary things.

Faith has helped people during difficult times, it can help you too.

Fun is about people and attitude. Fun can be “square” and “old fashioned”. May this be remembered after having the reckless fun of grown-up freedom wears thin or becomes self-destructive.

Older people love to watch children laugh and play and eat.

Community and fellowship are good, healthy things.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

Sitting on a balloon to make it pop, like getting married, always brings a funny, mixed feeling of excitement and anxiety.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

“Please” and “Thank You”, sincerely spoken, really are magic words.

There is a place in the world for games where nobody wins and nobody loses, and there is a place in the world for a rambunctious game of dodgeball.

There is a strange fascination about watching older people trying to Hula Hoop, it is not pleasant to watch but you can’t take your eyes off of it.

Everyone is welcome, especially people we don’t know. There is plenty for everyone. If only the rest of the world was this way.

Doing something in front of an audience is much easier if everyone in the audience is rooting for you, if they all love you, and will still applaud wildly if you mess up...maybe even more if you mess up.

Lot of things in life are like a water balloon fight, hours of prep time for 10 minutes of fun. But what fun it is.

https://babylonbee.com/news/most-popular-vbs-theme-for-each-denomination

Love your neighbor as yourself...so first you must learn how to love yourself.

Life isn’t just about you. Do something for somebody else.

Treat everyone with kindness and respect.

Life is good, and a gift for which we should be grateful.

And most important…Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.