My Kids at Vacation Bible Camp

Danae attended her 3rd Vacation Bible Camp this summer, while it was Noelle’s first ever! Danae attended her first Me & My Dad Camp last April, an amazing time for her and King. She also wished for a Me & My Mom Camp and a Me & My Sister Camp after that haha. She joined McDonald’s Kiddie Crew and had piano lessons too. But because Noelle’s only 3 and she already had her summer school last year to sort of prepare her for Nursery this school year, we didn’t have anything lined up for her to do except VBC (though technically, kids have to be at least 4 to join).

I never had much problem leaving Danae in any class because she was almost always willing to stay even without me. Noelle is the complete opposite. Her summer school experience last year showed me just how clingy she was, and she was the same even in “Kids Church 3” (she means kids church for 3-year-olds) this year. When she was interested to go, she didn’t want to join Danae’s age group. She wanted her own age group, but she wanted me to stay with her, which I did.

One Sunday, however, I was able to leave her in her class room and I was able to attend service! I guess our never-ending pep talks, encouraging her not to cry in class because she’s a big girl, finally worked. The teacher only came to get me during the last 15 minutes because Noelle was asking for me, but with no tears!!! What a breakthrough! I knew then that I wouldn’t have problems during VBC. I was so proud of her.

All in all, my kids’ VBC experience, or I should say OUR VBC experience, was really memorable. As usual, Danae enjoyed her time with friends. There was no doubt that she would actively participate in the activities and learn from the shows, songs, and stories, which she did. Noelle, as usual too, did not participate as much. There were a couple of times I saw her just sitting with a teacher or a classmate, while others danced and a few more others ran around haha. She did her crafts and watched the shows, but I only saw her sing and do the actions during graduation (in her seat and with her teacher). But that didn’t really matter. The fact that she actually stayed in class for nearly 3 hours for 3 consecutive days already made me extremely happy! I also appreciated what Ptr Carlo said about Noelle, that she would approach and comfort any classmate who was upset (so cute). He also said that my two girls knew how to respect authority. Praise God for that haha.

Noelle’s the type who listens only to what she wants to listen to. When we’d read books, it’s like she doesn’t have time to sit and finish the story! I didn’t really expect her to understand or remember the lessons in VBC, but I was surprised that she was able to share with me the stories of Elijah (though a lot unclear haha), Moses and Hannah. She’s got a wild imagination, so some were accurate and some were not hahaha. Still, it made an impact on her, enough to make her remember.

If there’s one big thing I learned about Noelle this summer, it’s the fact that she listens, pays attention, understands, remembers more when we make the stories animated and acted out, not just read. Which means, the VBC volunteers did a great job conveying the Bible stories through their plays. They got through to a 3-year-old! All the volunteers were actually amazing. Their dedication, their energy, their heart….WOW!

I can’t tell you enough how great it was, except by telling you that I got so inspired to join and volunteer next year! It’s simply not enough for me to bring my kids there, wait and pick them up again. I want to be a teacher (and a dancer) too!

So to Pastor Carlo, Lea, Grace, Leni, Merlee and all the staff and volunteers who labored out of love for God and His children, thank you! You guys are the best! 🙂