Thursday evening of Vacation Bible School is one of the toughest but most rewarding evenings of the year.  It’s tough because the workers are tired.  Most of us have worked full time jobs for eight or more hours each day and then we’ve rushed to church to spend another 3-4 hours (or more) leading classes.  We’ve done this for four nights in a row already, and the weekend is not quite in sight.

We’re physically and emotionally worn out, and, to be honest, though we love kids or we wouldn’t sign up for Vacation Bible School, we’re also a little bit tired of children.

From my perspective, I’m also a little bit nervous.  You would think that after 26 years of leading Vacation Bible Schools, decision night would be “old hat” for me, but inviting children and teens and adults to put their faith and trust in Jesus is never old.  It’s exciting and it makes me nervous, because the reason we put so much work into VBS is to be able to introduce people we’ve grown to love to Jesus.  And I’ve spend a lot of time praying and working for a great response.

Since I’ve prayed, I shouldn’t be amazed at what God might do, but the numbers of children coming down the aisle to receive Jesus –42 of them last night–is phenomenal!  Of course I know that some of them were too young to fully understand what they were doing, but we prayed with them and loved them and we have set the stage for them to make a decision for Christ in the future.  And some who came forward were already believers who came forward to renew their walk with Christ.  We prayed with them and encouraged them and loved them.  And probably some just got caught up in the excitement, but we loved them and answered their questions.  But many of the children (and teens and adults) were making decisions that will change their lives and their eternities!

So every year, I get tears in my eyes and a tingle up my spine as I see people responding to the gospel of Jesus, and my tired body and mind is reminded, “That’s why we do it!”