John's Epistle   

High Seas Expedition
 
This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. No, I don't mean the first week of August or the week it gets hotter than ... well, you know.
 
It's VBS week! And I just love it. It's exhausting and challenging, but it is one of the most fulfilling things I do in ministry. I get to see all those young faces filled with energy and enthusiasm, see them jump and dance to the music and listen to the stories of the Bible with a spirit that most of us adults would do well to imitate.
 
I've been preparing to participate in this year's VBS for several weeks now. I'm helping lead the music for the opening and closing community gathering sessions, during which we set the theme for each evening's program and teach them some really fun songs.
 
The name of this year's VBS is "High Seas Expedition." For some reason, I have had the hardest time getting that right! The first several weeks I called it "High Seas Adventure," and somehow that name is stuck in my head.
 
Maybe it's because at first I didn't really think that much about the difference between an adventure and an expedition. Last night, however, as I tried to explain to a bunch of kids what an expedition is, I finally got it. An adventure is something that happens to you: You can go out looking for adventure, you can enjoy adventure, or you can stumble on it in the simplest acts. Even something as simple as changing a light bulb can turn into an adventure if something goes wrong. There is a certain element of surprise in adventure. 
 
But an expedition has purpose. When you go looking for something, you may have some adventure along the way, but you are on an expedition.
 
This week's expedition is about finding God. The volunteers are looking for God to move in the lives of children and the children come expecting to find something, too. Maybe you think they just come because they get bored during the summer or because their parents make them attend. I can tell you, as I look into the eyes of the children, year after year, that's just not true. They know what Bible School if for ... finding God's love.
 
Maybe we can learn something from these children, just as they learn something from us. One of the elements of "High Seas Expedition" is keeping our eyes open for "God Sightings." A God Sighting happens when we begin to recognize the things God is doing around us, all the time, everywhere we go.
 
I've already had some God Sightings this VBS week. Now you know why it's one of my favorite weeks of the year.
 
Grace and peace,
Pastor John