As we enter summer here in the U.S., my mind goes back to the times I helped out with Vacation Bible School (VBS) at my Uncle and Aunt's church.
I remember that I was a young teen the first time, and I was asked to do various tasks - watch over the young kids in the play area, prepare arts and crafts for a lesson, sit with the kids for a Bible story, fill little bags with candy, or help hand out prizes, etc...
I could easily understand that all of these things were useful and helpful for the children, the church, and the whole VBS plan...until the Thursday afternoon.
My Pastor Uncle told me to go to one of the rooms, saying, "I need you to clean something." When I walked in, there was an old rain gutter sitting on the table, with some clean cloths, a bucket with water and some dish soap.
I remember feeling hurt as I thought to myself, "Wow. I guess there are no more useful tasks for me. They must think that they need to fill my time and give me something, anything, to do. Or maybe they think I'm not doing a good job with the "useful" "helpful" or "relevant" duties?
As I mulled over what this perceived demotion in my duties meant, my motivation decreased and I did a very half-hearted job of wiping out the rain gutter.
After a little while, my Uncle came back and said in an excited voice, "Is it ready?" Ready?? Before I could answer, someone came in with a huge roll of tin foil, someone else with what looked to be a 5 gallon container of ice cream, another armed with whipped creams, and another with chocolate sauces and cherries.
Uh, oh...
I said, "Wait Wait!" as I cleaned as hard and quick as I could. I barely got it wiped out well before the tin foil lining went on, then the ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and cherries. It was the biggest ice cream sundae I had ever seen!
