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This past week has been full of a lot of fun and a busy schedule. This past week I volunteered at a VBS celebration for my local Community Church. It has been a very enlightening week far different from what I experienced last year.

This year I was given a group of boys between 4th and 6th grade. The experience was really fun, and I learned a lot about each one of the children in my group, but it was not without its challenges.

I have always enjoyed vacation Bible school as a whole not because of the fun activities but in the unique way they are able to instruct children.

 

My volunteering thoughts

 

I have always loved to volunteer. Something about giving an extra hand to help out makes me feel good about life and myself in general. I’m always ready to jump at the opportunity to volunteer because not only does it help build up a community, but it also gives personal insight into what a community is like.

It also gives the opportunity to acquaint yourself with local people and to learn more about how a community or an organization operates in a healthy and positive way. In a small way it also helps groom you as a stay-at-home mom or spouse on how to operate in the workforce.

To the best of my knowledge, I’ve been volunteering since I was about 10 years old whether it be for vacation Bible schools or community outreach programs.

Volunteering has almost become second nature to me, and I’ve always enjoyed the opportunity to do so.

 

VBS

 

This year’s vacation Bible school theme was an Australian Down Under”.. Our group names were named after animals that you might find in the Outback or States and cities in the continent of Australia.

For example, I was the leader of a group named New South Wales, a state in Australia. Luckily, my kids were able to participate in VBS this year as well.

My oldest son was part of a group called the platypuses (another common animal in Australia) and my youngest was in the baby room called the shrimps. The whole dynamic of the theme this year was very charming and clever.

Each day some of the leaders dressed up as Outback tour guides and there were small facts about Australia and their many States and countries displayed around the VBS activity area.

I was secretly hoping that they would have a panel as a “just for fun panel” on diverse types of things and activities that you could do while you were visiting Australia. Besides the Bible lessons I think it would have been a nice fun break to have more trivia games for the kids to enjoy.

 

My Time as A VBS Leader

 

This year I was paired with one of my good friends’ mother-in-law which brought me a lot of comfort and ease. She is a genuinely nice lady and amazingly easy to talk to and wonderful to work with. I will say that we did run into some issues with some of the new kids that were coming onto our group throughout the week.

 

It’s always interesting to see the dynamic of children, especially a group of boys, to see how they solve problems.

 

Most of the kids were very nice but one in particular was making it hard for the rest of the group to enjoy themselves during the activities and Bible lessons.

It occurred to me that this is going to be a good example of what’s to come when I rejoin the workforce.

There’s always going to be someone in a group or in a company that just simply does things out of character or even hurtful to get attention. The key is how to rise above redirect or simply ignore it.

I will admit it was a bit hard for me to deal with this child simply because he was being extremely rude to other children and didn’t seem to care either way even when he was called out on it.

It was definitely a learning experience for me, and it helped me grow as a parent on how to deal with my own children when they decide they want to be honorary disruptive or act out of turn or character.

In the end we were able to find some common ground and continue to have a fun week where everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Overall, I very much enjoyed volunteering for VBS with my local church this summer. Even though the experience filled me with joy it also filled me with a lot of sorrow due to our impending PCS at the end of the summer.

Between now and then I’m going to take every opportunity I can to help serve and bring help and joy to those around me.

Attending VBS with some of my fondest memories growing up as a child and I’m glad that my own children get to experience this with me. I hope this inspires them to want to volunteer and serve in the future alongside me or even without me so they can learn and grow as people.

Personally, I believe that everybody should take time out of their schedule to volunteer. There’s something so satisfying about it and it’s good to help and get involved in your community.

 

Read more of Anastasia’s work HERE!

 

 

Author

  • Anastassia Kennedy

    Anastassia is originally from North Carolina, born and raised in Fort Bragg. She is a military child turned spouse, so the Army has been a part of who she is for her entire life. She and her husband have been married for six years and have two boys (2 and 5 years old) and are currently stationed in Washington, Illinois (for now at least). She is hoping her next assignment will take her back down South next because she does not enjoy snow filled winters! She is a stay at home mom with a knack for Crocheting (she actually turned her hobby into a side job- how cool is that?) She also enjoys yoga, podcasts, reading, thrifting, and exploring cities and villages. Most of her exploring various places is food related as she loves trying new foods (and finding cool tea rooms) so she can broaden her pallet. Not to mention, you always meet the nicest people in restaurants and bakeries! Anastassia is a fun-loving person who is always ready at a moment's notice to enjoy life, have fun, and make new friends.

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