Dancing In the Aisles, What I Know For Sure & #iPPP

"Be nice to each other!  Didn't we just spend a week learning about Jesus and being nice!," I screamed at my kids yesterday.  

Oh yes, it's that time of year again, time for Vacation Bible School (VBS).  

For years my kids have been attending VBS at our church for one week every summer.  They love it.  They sing, they dance, they craft, they learn about Jesus, they play games, they make friends, they reconnect with old friends.  And by the end of the week they are completely exhausted, especially the younger kids.  

My relationship with church and faith is sometimes sort of complicated.  I question, I doubt, I disagree, I wonder.  

But one week every summer I am reminded about some of the things about church and faith I love deeply. Things that I truly believe in.  I believe in kindness, service and dancing in the aisles.

This year, Peyton was old enough to be a "youth helper."  He and a group of seven other 6th- and 7th-grade boys helped run the games for all the kids (along with an adult leader/organizer).  It was the perfect blend of opportunity for independence and  being a role model.  The boys knew the little kids were watching them, wondering if they were too cool to dance in the aisle or sing.  So, those older boys danced.  And the little kids danced more because of it.

During this week, it's not just the kids that get to reconnect with old friends.  I've been running the kitchen for the past six years.  I originally chose this volunteer job because of the limited interaction with children.  (I love kids, but I also unabashedly love breaks from them too.)  

My BFF Steph and I never get a chance to hang out anymore, so it makes this week even more special.  Jan and Tom have volunteered with us since the beginning and we love them so much.

Did I mention we get to use a mic?  At snack delivery time, Steph and I get to pretend we're really important, and funny.

In the kitchen we talk about everything---how big all the kids are getting, who has let their kids have an Instagram account and who hasn't, why foam cups are worse than plastic when serving water to 200 kids, why more husbands don't want to get involved at church, who watches Scandal and how we miss new Mad Men episodes, why every Real Housewife on Bravo is in some sort of legal trouble, vacations, back to school and more.*

*It is probably important to Tom that I mention he only had a conversation about the cups and vacations, not the other stuff.

I've compared it to camp for grown ups.  We get to wear the shirts, sing the songs and dance in aisles too.   

All week we (the kids and the grown ups) live the most basic elements of church and faith--being kind, connecting with others and feeling joyful about life.  It's all kinds of appreciating the good, the now. 

So yes, my kids are tired and bickering a little with each other by the end of the week and I am yelling a little.  There is that.  But there is also so much kindness and dancing in the aisles and it's  amazing, I know that for sure.

Here's what else I know for sure this week:

• Wade is incredibly cute as Mr. Incredible.  I love this age where they put on a suit/costume and they really believe they are a superhero, even on a scooter.

• This graduation speech from George Saunders that was featured in the New York Times this week fits with my post today, he talks about his biggest regret being "failures of kindness."  It's all about being kind!  click here to read the whole speech, it's really, really good.

• I'm gettin' my groove back.  This week, after a long time of not feeling like myself, I sort of felt like me.  It was in the car and I was dancing to Digital Underground's Humpty Dance.  Yeah, that's right, I'm steppin tall ya'll and I like my oatmeal lumpy.

• Puppies are crazy.  Look at Cosi, looking at me like "yeah, what?" as I interrupt her digging a giant hole in the back yard. I guess I mean is my puppy is driving me crazy. 

• My obsession with the show Scandal is still very real.  We are four episodes away from finishing the second season and each episode is leaving me on the edge of my seat.  

• I haven't been very good at social media this summer, but I'm getting back in so come play with me.  Like my Facebook page & follow me on Twitter.

What do you know for sure (this week)? C'mon, we're friends, share what you know. Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page.

  Please come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

I'm linking up today with my friends Greta from  Gfunkified.com and Sarah from SundaySpill.com for the #iPPP link up.  They host a link up where they encourage people to share "your funny, your yummy, your heartfelt, your favorite photos of the week" from our phones. 

Check them out. 

Walk the Line

This week I will be playing the role of an over emotional, slightly irrational almost 40-year-old mother of four who struggles with change.  Oh wait, that's my role every week.  Ugh.


Sorry folks, but this week it's going to be a little more intense.  I dropped my two oldest children off in another state and I am prepping to go back in time (to a sometimes not so happy time) circa my 20th high school reunion.


I drove to Pittsburgh, PA straight from closing ceremonies of a busy week of vacation bible school (VBS) at our church.  A week where my kids sang sweet songs, made new friends, hung out with old friends, learned mildly (and not so mildly) scary stories about the Crucifixion and made crafts. 

A week where I ran the snack room and felt like a youth group volunteer hanging with my buddies in the kitchen.

Most of the snacks we served were healthy.  I bought 40 pounds of grapes last week.  Okay, the most popular snacks involved spray cheese and other not so healthy options.

Armed with our VBS CD, snacks and a slightly better working AC (still no husband who happened to be out of town for work) we headed off for the Burgh where Grandpa Camp awaited my two oldest children.  


Last year was the first year Peyton and Lucy went away for a week with my dad.  It was hard for me, but amazing for them.  They have looked forward to going back probably since the day they left last summer.


This summer has been an interesting challenge for me as a mother.  After JT broke his arm, I went through an "everything is scary, danger lurks everywhere" phase for a couple weeks.  I thought I was over it, but my "don't be afraid of living" attitude was challenged within the first 30 minutes of our arrival to Pittsburgh.  

My dad lives on a cliff in the south side of Pittsburgh.  An incline car used to carry people up the cliff many, many years ago where his house now sits.  There are remnants of those old incline cars/lines still on his property.  There is a roof top deck, 30-foot walls, steep staircases, a hot tub and more.  These are some of the reasons why Grandpa Camp is only for the older kids.


But those older (supposed to be wiser) kids proceeded to sit on top of that 30-foot wall upon our arrival.  My dad and I knew not to react too excitedly or they might fall.  I am not kidding.  We had to talk my kids off the ledge.  They had no idea of the danger, they hadn't even looked at the other side.  How did I raise such not-very-smart kids?


I couldn't sleep that night.  I couldn't get the image out of my head of what could've been.  Then every could've been ever started running through my mind.  It was 1 a.m. and I called my husband who was driving home from the airport in Michigan.  "Tell me stories of all the dangerous things you and your brothers did growing up," I begged.  I needed to hear kid survival stories.


He sure gave them to me.  Stories of riding 40 mph on dirt bikes with no helmets through the woods at age 10, jumping off the roof of his house, seeing how long they could hold onto the electric fence before being knocked down to the ground with electricity and more good stuff.


Kids do scary things, dumb things.  It's normal to be not-so-smart.  My dad and his wife will love them and look after them, they will be safe. And I am beyond happy that my children get to spend time with my father and make such special memories.  They will have the time of their life and look forward to camp next year.  And I will dwell in a place of happiness and anxiety, joy and fear.  I will walk the line of parenthood (and sanity).


As I drove away to head home with my two littlest boys in the van, they asked to hear the VBS music.  Reluctantly, I put in the CD and started playing the songs that we heard only 2,035 times the last week.  I started singing louder and louder.  I cried a little.  I felt the music.  I felt the lyrics.  "Isn't this great kids?" I yelled back.  No reply.  My little boys were sleeping.  I shrugged and continued singing to God to give me strength for the journey home and beyond.