Carol Hulbert

Sky VBC: Day 2

Posted on July 10, 2012July 11, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

Welcome back to Sky Vacation Bible Camp (VBC); Where everything is possible with God! Here’s what your kids did today…

At our opening time, Up & Away Sing & Play, we were busy! There were more songs to sing and time for each “Flight Crew” (what we call a group of kids) to get to know each other. We shared our God Sightings: instances where we saw God in our daily life; a smiling face, a pretty sunset, a helping hand… all of these are pictures of God! To remind us of these God Sightings, we created “clouds” that spelled out “GOD.”

Flight crews spent time getting to know each other

The Bible Buddy for day 2: Orville the flying pig
We also met today’s Bible Buddy: Orville, a pig who would rather fly than wallow in the mud. I wonder how a flying pig relates to today’s Bible Point? See if your kids know.

What was today’s Bible Point? (So glad you asked!)

No matter how you feel… trust God!

(Ask your kids what the response is suppose to be when they hear the words: “No matter how you feel…”)

Flash is feeling blue Flash stopped in for a visit. Was she feeling down! She didn’t even want to be seen! We managed to convince her, however, that bad stuff can happen in your life. Yep, we all will experience times of feeling bad. But, no matter what, God has a plan for you and you can… Trust God! Our key Bible verse was: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God”  (John 14:1). Don’t you think it would be a good idea to store this Bible verse in our heart, where we can pull it up just when we need it? Visit here for some hints about “memorizing” Bible verses.

Our Bible story was about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. (Read it in John 11:1-44). It’s a story loaded with feelings and illustrations of no matter how you feel… For instance, Lazarus had been dead for four days! His sisters Mary and Martha were feeling bad, especially becuase they had asked Jesus to come to heal Lazarus. Yet Jesus didn’t come right away! He waited for four days! We’ll talk more about these sorts of feelings a little later in our stations.

Speaking of stations… The preschoolers did the following:

Games – Today we played parachute games. We used a parachute to pretend like we were running in and out of a tomb, just like Lazarus came out of the tomb. We also had time to just play!
Crafts – Today we heard a story about feelings and we made bookmarks.
Drama/Bible Adventures – In this station we heard and experienced our Bible story using our senses. We felt rocks and gauze bandages. We smelled tuna! Pee-yew!
Bible Buddies – The kids had another visit from Sklyer the puppet. Today Skyler was frustrated because Orly the orangutan was cheating on the rocket building contest! Orly’s dad had college students building his rocket for him. That’s not fair! I wonder what we were doing in that picture on the right?

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations:

All-Star Games – We started off experiencing some frustration. How could we help a blindfolded crew member to find things hidden in the grass!? The game which was the most fun was called “Jet Scream.” Kids were challenged to see how far they could run on one breath, while screaming!
Wild Blue Bible Adventures – In this station kids get to experience the emotions in our Bible stories. Ask them how they came up against Mary and Martha’s feelings. (It had to do with Rock-Paper-Scissors).
Sky High Movie & Missions – Today we watched Chadder deal with some cheating contestants in the “Catch Some Air” contest. I wonder if Chadder will do the right thing?

Imagination Station, day 2

Imagination Station – We certainly get lots of chances to use our imaginations in this station! Ask your kids why they were eating clouds? And ask about that feeling you get, like you are about to burst. (And how this turned into bursting balloons with interesting results.)

Our “older” elementary kids in our Grad Group spent the morning on a field to Chelsea Retirement Home. They had a personal tour and visited with residents, handing out blank note cards and bookmarks with the VBC verses.

Snack Day 2: Miracle Cookies Mid-way through our time this morning we all gathered at Sky Dive Diner. Our snack was “Miracle Cookies.” Hey! They look like a wrapped Lazarus. Thank goodness for the recharging effect of a couple of cookies!

At the end of our morning everyone gathered together again for Fly Away Finale. There was more singing and we got to fly — just pretend — though there were sound effects and clouds that we flew through. We also got to see a visual presentation on how the “clouds” in our life can be dissipated.

Finally, here are some Links of interest (click on the highlighted words):

Slide show of photos from Monday.
Slide show from Tuesday.
A fun site where kids can play games based on Sky Bible Buddies, download coloring pages, and watch for a clue about each day’s segment of Chadder’s adventures.
Community Action Network (CAN), the organization behind the school supply kits (our local mission project).

And, some conversation starters on our global mission project to collect coins to assist children in attending RAWANA Youth Camp, a United Methodist Church camp located in the Rivercess County of Liberia. Day 2 Bible Buddies surrounded by info on Liberia

Tell me about the smiley face sticker you are wearing.
Where is Liberia?
How do the children in Liberia get to camp?
I wonder what other differences there are between our life here in the U.S. and life in Liberia?
For 1st grade and up: I know there is something interesting about the president of Liberia, do you know what I’m thinking of? (The president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a woman. She is also a member of United Methodist Church and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.)

See you tomorrow!
~~Carol (on behalf of the VBC Team)

You are the spiritual leader of your family! Need help with this role? Join our readers! Receive new posts to this blog by email. Just enter your email address at the box on the upper right side of this page. (And then clicking the button). There will be one post every day this week of VBC, but most weeks there are only one or two posts a week. No spam!

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing.
Rest of photos courtesy of Griffin, Wendy and Carol!

Sky VBC: Day 1

Posted on July 9, 2012July 9, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

Today was the first day of Sky Vacation Bible Camp (VBC). We’re off to a soaring start! First some important stuff for adults:

Each year we choose a mission for kids to support during our VBC week. This year we have two projects:
1. Collecting backpacks and school supplies for children in our community that can’t afford these essential items.
2. To “share smiles” with kids in Liberia by collecting coins (or paper money!) to support children going to a United Methodist church camp, Camp Rawana.

Both offerings can be turned in at the start of VBC each day at the front of the Sanctuary. Watch for more info coming soon.

Now, here’s what your kids did today…

Up & Away Sing & Play

First we all gathered together at Up & Away Sing & Play. We learned our theme song, appropriately titled: “Sky.” (Hear the tune and see the words in this post.)

♫ “Wherever we go and whatever we do, we’re trusting God all along.” ♫

That song pretty much taught us our theme for this years VBC: Trust God!
Each day during VBC we’ll learn a different situation in which we can trust God. Today we learned that:

No matter who you are… trust God!

We heard a Bible story about someone who trusted Jesus. (That’s the same thing as trusting God!) We learned about a Roman soldier who figured that because he was a Roman, he wouldn’t be worthy to have Jesus come to his house! (Even to heal his very sick servant.) Ask your child to tell you this story and re-read it in the Bible at Matthew 8:5-13. (Any time you see highlighted words, you can click on them to be taken to a link, in this case, one where you can read our Bible story.)

Also at Up & Away Sing & Play we met a couple of interesting characters: Pat the Bat and Flash Sky Runner.


Pat the Bat	That’s Flash on the left

Both of them supposedly have lots of experience flying. (At least we know that Pat the Bat does. Flash on the other hand, I’m not so sure. We’ll be seeing Flash all week long, so stay tuned.)

Pat is our Bible Buddy for the day. Look what’s printed on the backside of our Bible Buddies: the day’s Bible verse! It applies to our Bible story even though it’s from 1 Samuel 16:7c. (Isn’t that cool how the Bible ties together so many stories.) The verse is: “People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Oh, I get it! That’s why they choose a bat as the Bible Buddy; bats look kind of scary on the outside but they are actually very helpful little creatures! This reminds us that God doesn’t care what we look like, or where we live, or what brand of shoes we wear; God is interested in whether we are honest and do we help people. Stuff like that. It’s what we call “what’s in our heart.”

What happened next? The preschoolers went off to their special rooms and did the following:

Games – Including “Name Toss” and “Go” provided lots of fun.
Bible Adventures – This was our drama workshop. Ask your kids how the story was told. Also ask them what foreign country they learned about.
Bible Buddies – The kids met the puppet, Sklyer. He told us about a contest that he entered to build a rocket! Except there is one problem. Ask your kids about it.
Crafts – Here kids decorated faces to remind them it’s not what the outside looks like that counts.

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations:

All-Star Games – There were a couple of games with a parachute and one very strange game that involved using our brains: “Mystery Substances.”
Wild Blue Bible Adventures – In this station kids experience the Bible story through exercises that point out how it would have felt to have participated in the story. Then they gathered in what we call “knee circles” to discuss the story’s application to their life.
Sky High Movie & Missions – Here’s where the kids watch the adventures of Chadder Chipmunk. This year Chadder is animated! Ask your kids about the contest Chadder is involved in.
Imagination Station – New this year! Where the Bible story is reinforced in diverse ways.

Our “older” elementary kids in our Grad Group are working every day this week on various mission projects – both local and global! Today’s project was to prepare school supplies for the Bryant Community Center. They reported we needed the following:

Items needed	Quantity needed
Rulers	64
Pencils	133
Packs of markers	23
Boxes of colored pencils	5
Pencil cases (bags or boxes)	79
Spiral notebooks	50
Packs of lined paper	48
Colorful folders	445

Mid-way through our time this morning we all gathered at Sky Dive Diner. Our snack was called “Sky Surprises.” Ask your child what the surprise was.

Trying to launch stuff
At the end of our morning everyone gathered together again for Fly Away Finale. There was more singing and we watched a slide show of our day. Ask your kids about what else hapened. Something about a launch?

See you tomorrow!
Carol (on behalf of the VBC Team)

Did you know that you are the spiritual leader of your family? Need help with this role? Join our readers! Receive new posts to this blog by email. Just enter your email address at the box on the upper right side of this page. (And then clicking the button). There will be one post every day this week of VBC, but most weeks there are only one or two posts a week. No spam!

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing.
Rest of photos courtesy of Wendy and Griffin and Carol.

Things are looking up!

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

Ready for some fun? Things are looking up! The hot weather is headed for some much needed coolness (unlike feeling like 100+ degrees). Activity was in high gear today at FUMC because…

Vacation Bible Camp starts tomorrow!

Vacation Bible Camp. Aka “VBC.”
It makes me smile big time!
(Do you see the smiley face in the clouds? 🙂 I couldn’t resist including this since this year’s theme is sky!)

Why will your child be smiling after a day of VBC? Let’s count some ways!

Music, skits, and silly stuff at the start of each day in the sanctuary at Up & Away Sing & Play.
Friends (old and new) in your child’s “flight crew.” (They’ll first meet in the sanctuary and then “fly” together to four different VBC stations.)
Frolicing fun at All-Star Games. Need I say more?
Chadder is back in action at Sky High Movie & Missions. But wait a minute. Chadder looks a little different! See if you can spot what’s new.
Scrumptious snacks served during Skydive Diner. (How do they always see to it that our munchies tie to the day’s Bible verse?)
Engaging drama at Wild Blue Bible Adventures. This always sparks deep discussion in our flight crews.
Something new (for elementary-aged kids): Imagination Station, where kids will “discover the Bible Point in crazy ways!” (Preschool kids will visit Craft & Play.)
Bible Buddies! A new one every day! And check out how each Buddy has the day’s Bible verse on it. Total coolness.

Bible Buddies for VBC

Hope to see you at VBC!
~~ Carol (on behalf of the VBC team)

Join our readers! Receive new posts to this blog by email by entering your address in the box on the upper right side of this page. (And then clicking the button). There will be one post every day this week of VBC, but usually there are just one or two posts a week. No spam! No sharing of your email!

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
A Michigan sky creates a smiley face by Erin Leigh McConnell who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.
Chadder & VBC Bible Buddies used by permission of Group Publishing.
Other photos from my archives.

Vacation Bible Camp starts next week!

Posted on July 5, 2012July 7, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

Next week Vacation Bible Camp starts! Are your kids excited?

The theme this year will be based on the Sky, as in as high as the sky, “Everything is possible with God” (Mark 10:27c). We want kids to discover that by trusting God, everything is possible! (Oh, boy. This could be some learning that I need as well!)

We’ll spend Monday through Friday mornings digging into God’s Word in fun, unforgettable ways. As usual there will be great music. Take a chance to learn the theme song ahead of time! It’s not too late to sign up, do so here.

Got that stuck in your head yet?

I hope we see you there!
~~ Carol (on behalf of the VBC team)

Join our readers! Receive new posts to this blog by email by entering your address in the box on the upper right side of this page. (And then clicking the button). There will be one post every day next week of VBC, but usually there is one post a week. No sharing of your email!

a blue line

Photo credits:
VBC Logo used by permission of Group Publishing.

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Helping kids get more out of worship

Posted on June 28, 2012June 28, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

This weekend the children will join us in worship. Help them prepare for this time, not by packing up a few books or an iPhone to keep them happy/distract them, but by spending a few minutes talking about the Bible passage they’ll hear. Reading those verses would be a good way to go about this task. But make it more fun by using this idea at the family dinner table. (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) It’s a knock-off of the card game “Spoons.”

Gather enough spoons for everyone. (Unlike the real game of Spoons, everyone should have a chance to grab a spoon.) To avoid arguments, make sure everyone is equidistant from the pile!

Get out a Bible. (If you’ve got readers, one for everyone to follow along is an even better idea!) Set the stage by saying that this weekend is family worship and you’d like to read the Bible passage that will heard. But you won’t just be reading the story; you’d like to involve everyone. Point out the spoons and tell everyone to grab a spoon when they know the answer to a question. (Note: To print out these questions, click here.)

The first question is:

In what Testament in the Bible do we find stories about Jesus?

(I’ll bet someone blurt out the answer without grabbing a spoon!) Allow the first spoon-grabber with the correct answer (the New Testament) the privilege of finding the gospel of Mark in the Bible. Or make it another question as to how to quickly find the New Testament. (Kids in 3rd grade and up should know the answer.)

Announce the next spoon-grab:

Whenever you hear the number “twelve” in the story.

Start reading Mark 5:21-43. “Twelve” is mentioned in verse 25. Ask the first spoon grabber to tell you where this story takes place.
Answer: Verse 21, on a beach. (Ask someone else if the first one to grab doesn’t know the answer.)

Continue in this pattern — announcing the next spoon grabbing opportunity — before picking up where you left off reading. Here are a few more chances at the mad dash. (You may wish to reduce the number of questions asked for younger children)…

What the woman who had suffered for 12 years, did to receive healing from Jesus.
Answer: verse 27, touched Jesus’ robe.
Additional question to ask the “winner” (or just to ask everyone): What does this tell you about this woman? (Accept all reasonable answers. One possibility: she had great faith.)
What Jesus does in response to the woman’s healing.
Answer: verse 30, asked “who touched my robe?”
Additional question: Given the crowded situation (read verses 31-32), making it hard to figure out who had touched him, why do you suppose Jesus wanted to know? (Accept all reasonable answers. A couple of possibilities: Jesus cares about people; Jesus wanted to teach others about having faith.)
What the messengers said.
Answer: verse 35, the news that the daughter of Jairus was dead.
Additional question: Jesus had been on his way to heal this girl (may need to re-read verses 22-24), do you suppose the interruption with the woman who was bleeding, caused Jesus to miss the opportunity to save this girl? (Accept all replies.) How do you suppose that made Jairus feel?
What Jesus told Jairus when he heard the news.
Answer: verse 36, “Don’t be afraid. Have faith.”
Additional question: When have you been afraid?
What happened at Jairus’ house.
Answer: verse 42, Jesus raised the girl from the dead!
Additional question: Jesus had heard the news that the girl had died. Why do you suppose he went to Jairus’ house anyway? (Accept all responses.)
What lessons can this story teach us? (A possibility: We can trust God no matter what happens).
I wonder what lesson Pastor Doug will focus on this weekend?

Report back on how this went with your family. Do share!

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
A rousing game of spoons by woodleywonderworks, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

All of Life is Worship

Posted on June 21, 2012June 21, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

What does this Bible verse tell us?

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.
Psalm 100:4 (NLT)

Is that Bible verse talking about the doors to a church?

It’s talking about what we do when we go to church to worship;
that is the spot to show our thanks. Right?

How about asking these questions at the family dinner table. (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) That verse above is from Psalm 100, which is our Rotation this month at FUMC. So it is only fitting to have dinner conversation that includes the topics of worship and Psalm 100.

As we dig into Psalm 100, our primary focus is to explore what this psalm tells us about why, and how we worship God. When we reflect on “worship” we immediately think of what we do once a week on Saturday or on Sunday – opening up those gates (okay, the doors) and entering church. We’ve looked at why we worship God; now let’s focus on how.

Grab a Bible. Before you read, ask everyone to listen for instructions in Psalm 100 that tell us how to worship. (You may ask everyone to turn their spoon over when they hear an answer.)

What did you hear? How should we worship? Psalm 100 is dishing out commands!

Shout for joy!
Worship with gladness.
Sing with joy.
Give thanks to him.
Praise his name.

So, here’s another question: Should such noisy worship be restricted to just during a weekly “worship service”?

What if we consider those “gates” referred to above as doors to each new day of life?

If expressing our love and our devotion to God — with joyous praise — can take place at any time and in any place, then the teachings of Psalm 100 can be applied, not just once a week, but to daily life!

Have you worshipped today?

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Church doors by Rodney Campbell, who licensed this photo under: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

Questioning worship?

Posted on June 14, 2012June 14, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

Have your kids ever asked why your family goes to church?

Because it’s a habit?
To refuel our soul?
To see your friends?
We were made to worship something; it might as well be God?
For some quiet time for the adults? (Because the kids spend part of the time in Sunday’s Cool.)

All of those are valid answers.

Start a family discussion around the family dinner table. (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) Say: “I am curious to hear your answers… Why do we go to church?”

Accept any replies and then ask another question: We go to church for many reasons, but why do we worship?

Again, be open to all the answers you get. Then steer the questioning towards what is worship? I like this definition:

(Worship) is a mysterious way of coming into God’s presence with people of my community. Carolyn C. Brown

Mysterious?

Yes. Then there is this mystery:

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;  
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100:5

I love it! We go to church to worship God because God is good, all the time!

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Questioning girl by trazomfreak, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

Never too young

Posted on May 31, 2012May 2, 2017 by Carol Hulbert

This weekend, youth in the Confirmation class will be joining as full members of our church. This special portion of the worship service will take place on Sunday, at the downtown location of FUMC. Kids in 1st through 6th grade will be observing this event, as this Sunday is a worship-with-your-family Sunday (including Communion). It is important that kids participate in such a momentous occasion – to see what they have to look forward to: claiming the name of “Christian” for themselves.

Prepare your kids ahead of time, and/or discuss the event afterwards. Here’s a question to talk about with your family:

Does completing Confirmation mean graduating from Sunday school?

A group photo of a past Confirmation class

Are we done now?

Absolutely not!

The Confirmation process is a major milestone in these young people’s journey of faith but it is by no means the end. Hopefully it has sparked more questions, such as…

Life doesn’t seem to be about me, me, me. What does it mean to be a “child of God?”
I’ve confessed Jesus Christ as my Savior. I put my whole trust in his grace… but why is there suffering in the world?
I’ve promised to serve him as Lord, but why am I here? Where do I fit in?

Do you have the answers?