Camp Widow

We've come to the wonderful time of year called Summer.  [Insert sarcastic tone] The kiddos are out of school for the Summer, which means Summer is the perfect time to ramp up the church activities from busy to insane.

Although the calendar says it ended two weeks ago, it seems like we just finished VBS.  Snuggles unintentionally left out the first letter of VBS, calling it "BS" instead. Cute.  But not-so-cute when he yelled across the church lobby: "Mommy!  ARE WE GOING TO BS?!"  Still, I find it rather ironic that Snuggles calls VBS "BS" because I have to be honest, every year I dread VBS... for several reasons. Mostly selfish reasons, I confess. But I dread it nonetheless.  VBS is like crack for kids, candy for parents, and napalm for volunteers.   Seriously, do parents give their kids intravenous kool-aid before their drop them off for VBS? You can almost hear the parents' sighs of relief as the minivan doors close, the tires squeal, and they run for the hills. *smile*

[Side note: The above (intentionally exaggerated) scenario does not apply to all parents. Our church is really great in that many of our kids' parents actually volunteer for VBS.]  

It's beyond challenging to manage our family the week of VBS. We're out of the house by 7:30 a.m. to drop Snuggles off at daycare. We both work all day. Guitarman leaves work around 4 p.m. to drive 30 minutes back to Mt. Juliet to pick up Snuggles. He immediately turns around to drive back to the church (during rush hour), and stops for fast food so that Snuggles can eat in the car. (He won't eat at the church due to all the distractions, which means he goes hungry all evening.) It's 5:30 before Snuggles and Guitarman get back to the church... Which gives me just enough time to finish work, scarf down some food and prepare my classroom at the church before Guitarman arrives to hand off  Snuggles to me. This gives Guitarman just enough time to handle all the last-minute details before the monkeys start swinging from trees.

Last year, I taught the Bible Stories at VBS.  You might think this would be a simple task. But you would be wrong. See, back in the old days, VBS Bible story time involved a magnetic or felt board with cut-out character scenes to be moved around as a visual aid.  In contrast, VBS curriculum now includes all kinds of very creative, hands-on activities employed to "tell the story".  You don't just read a few verses from the Bible. We're talking lots of preparation in advance to decorate the room, purchase/make props, memorize dialogue, and even sometimes act out scenes. Sure, I could just skip the curriculum and read the story from the Bible, but that wouldn't engage the kids. And if you know me, you know I don't do anything half-way.  So last year, I went all out... worked really hard to make the Bible lessons fun and memorable. The kids loved it, but it nearly killed me. I swore that I would never volunteer to work every day of VBS again, at least not while Jackson is young...

Oops. I did it again.

Only this year, I added potty-training Snuggles to the VBS insanity!

To be completely honest, I really do enjoy VBS when I'm in the thick of it. I love telling the stories in a way that gets the kids excited and involved in the stories. I love to see the "light bulb moments" when they really get it.  But it's absolutely exhausting. When VBS wraps up for the evenings, and the last parents finally pick up their kids at 8:30 p.m., that's when it hits me...  When I'm loading my extremely tired and grumpy 2-year-old into the car 30 minutes past his bedtime.. It's when I know I still have to drive 30 minutes home... It's when I'm finally getting Snuggles in bed at 9:30 p.m. and I still have to wash his pee-soaked clothes and study the lesson for the next day... That's when I swear to myself that I'll never do it again.

But I do.  And I will.  Because as I keep reminding myself, if one child leaves VBS with a new (or renewed) commitment to journey through life with Christ, then it's worth it.

I'm speaking that same truth to myself this week while Guitarman is gone to camp.

As Monday dawned yesterday, my Facebook news feed was filled with statuses from excited parents sending their kids off to camp. I wish I could share their excitement, but it's difficult for me to do that because while they're enjoying a break from their kids, knowing their kids are having a blast at camp, I'm a single parent with a two-year-old who misses his Daddy.  I will have little-to-no communication with my husband because there is no/poor cell phone reception at the campground.  I'm a camp widow. 

And I get to do this again in a few weeks.  Yippee!

Okay, I know I'm being Negative Nancy here.  I understand it's important that Guitarman goes to camp with the kids, and I really do believe in camp ministry.  On top of that, I know Guitarman enjoys camp (most of the time).  But his absence takes its toll on our family.

So I'm asking God to help my attitude this week.  I'm asking God to help me not to focus on being a camp widow.  Instead of dressing in black and wearing a veil, I'm praying for Guitarman, and, more importantly, I'm praying for the kids. I'm praying that they will not only have fun, but that they will return home with more than mosquito bites... My prayer is that they will return with hearts overflowing with Jesus' love.