Connecting with Others

Today is probably the toughest day of the VBS week.  Everybody (tourists and tour guides alike) are all starting to run a little thin.  Some of the tricks of the trade to keep everybody happy and busy start to wear out.  And name tags start disintegrating!

But it's an important day of VBS as we get the opportunity to share with the kids how their lives can be a blessing to those around them ... opening their eyes to a bigger world.  The story that we learn today is about the Samaritan woman who meets Jesus at the well and returns to her a village a changed woman, ready to share her experience with others and share the blessings of knowing Jesus personally.

So, hang in there, teams and guests ... let's keep going strong!

Gloria is exuberant this morning with fantastic news ... she can't keep it in!  And her world just a little bigger, too.

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Day 4

Nancy is talking on her cell phone.  Gloria runs in squealing and spinning.

Gloria:  “Yippee! Yahoo!  This glee I can’t fake!  They asked me to come back ... This could be my big CHANCE!”  (happy dance)

Nancy:  Uh, Mom ... I’m going to have to call you back.  Bye.  Wow, Gloria, what’s your big news?

Gloria:  This morning, I was eating my favorite breakfast, those yummy little sugary bites with the mulit-colored marshmallows that dissolve on your tongue when ... oh, never mind.  I was eating breakfast when the phone rang and it was the casting office for that play I auditioned for yesterday.  And they want me to come in today.  Again.  For another audition!  I’m just a little excited.

Nancy:  Yes ... I can see that.  I’m excited for you, too.  What is your plan for the audition?

Gloria:  Well ... actually, I’m kinda surprised that they called me back at all.  I wasn’t sure that I had done a very good job at all.  I forgot one of the lines and dropped my script half-way through the screening.  And then I called the director Bob instead of Bill.  Yeah ... it didn’t go well.  But, I tried to just be me and I guess it worked.

Nancy: That’s great.  Being you is always a good idea.

Gloria:  But you know what, that wasn’t even the best thing that happened yesterday.  When I was waiting in the casting office there was another girl there waiting to audition and she was even more nervous than me ... which is saying a lot.

Nancy:  I can only imagine.

Gloria:  Exactly.  So while we were sitting there, I got to thinking about why I felt so calm and BINGO! (Nancy jumps) I realized it was because of Jesus.  So, when she asked why I could just sit there with a smile on my face, I got to tell her about Jesus.  I even used one of my new poems ...

Nancy:  Oh boy ... really?

Gloria:  Yeah!  I told her, “Jesus loves me, It is true, And if you trust Him, He’ll love you in the exact same way.”  I think it made her feel better ... or at least it made her laugh.  Although I don’t know what was so funny.

Nancy:  Gloria ... you are a good friend.  Sorta silly, but a good friend.

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This is a bittersweet day for me, too.  We are headed out after VBS this morning for our family reunion in Wisconsin.  Which means, of course, that the Kellum clan will be missing out tomorrow.  Not the best calendar planning on my part!  But don't worry ... Gloria will be back tomorrow for one last visit!

It has been a wonderful, faith-stretching, exciting, heart-touching, hair-pulling, invigorating, exhausting experience!  It's fun to be so worn out for a good reason ... but I'm also looking forward to having my brain back and to be connecting with others.  "Others" being my family! :)