After several sleepless hours last night, I got up and went to the church to decorate for VBS. I got there early with hopes of getting finished fairly early and getting other things done at the house. Since I\’m just coordinating this year, my task for today was decorating the chapel where the kids will have opening session each evening. I noticed it was a little warm in the chapel and in the other rooms of the building as I walked around checking things out, but I figured the a/c either hadn\’t been turned on or was turned on late last night.
When hubby got to the church, he used his air compressor to blow up the big kangaroo that is part of the decoration. He also commented on the a/c and asked me when I had turned it on. Hmm? Me? Um, I didn\’t turn on the a/c.
It wasn\’t long before we realized that the a/c just wasn\’t working. This is not good news. We have 50 or 60 kids going to be in the building for the next five nights. No air is just not good at all. Dave called the a/c man to come out and check out the system. (He didn\’t get there until 5:30 or so.)
Meanwhile, I am setting up the chapel and trying to get this big 9\’x6\’ poster up. Dave comes in and helps me get a lot of it tied and taped up. The poster is in three 3\’ pieces, so we have to lay it on the floor and tape the pieces together. By this time, the Children\’s Director has arrived, and she is helping us by tearing off tape and holding edges together. It takes the three of us about an hour to get the pieces all together and taped on the cardboard background.
As I am straightening up some other things, I notice that there is a piece of tape extending about 6\” from the bottom of one of the poster pieces. \”Sweetie,\” I say to my hubby, \”could you please cut that piece of tape off that poster so it doesn\’t get stepped on?\” He said he would and that\’s the last I thought of it.
A few minutes later, after doing a bit more decorating to the front of the chapel with Melody and Daina, Mel asks me to fix something at the front of the poster (she is behind the poster at this time doing something else). I go over and fix what she was talking about. Unbeknownst to me I have now STEPPED ON THE PIECE OF TAPE that hubby has forgotten to cut off the bottom of the poster. As I step back, my shoe–stuck to the tape–catches and trips me up. I stumble backward and then fall and my shoe, with the tape stuck on it, RIPS the poster and yanks it off the cardboard we have just spent OVER AN HOUR fixing! I hit the floor, the other two ladies in the room jerk around to see me and the poster lying on the floor with a big rip in it. \”Oh, no!\” we all gasp at the same time. Mel comes over and removes the tape from the bottom of my shoe and helps me up. After looking the poster for a moment, we all laugh and decide we can fix it.
Just as I am getting up off the floor, hubby walks in, and seeing the damage, says, \”Uh oh.\” Mel tells him what has happened and then tells Dave, \”And she didn\’t even say sh*t or anything.\” At this time hubby decides he might better leave the room. And he does.
My first thought as I was falling and watching that poster coming off the board was, \”I wonder if Lifeway has anymore of these posters at the store?\” I didn\’t even realize I was falling until my backside hit the floor, because I was too busy watching the poster RIP OFF THE CARDBOARD backing.
Then I notice that one of the ladies decorating her room upstairs has been crying. I make an excuse to go look for something so that I can talk to her. She is clearly upset about something and we spend a little while talking until she calms down.
The enemy is clearly at work, which leads me to believe that this is going to be a GREAT VBS this year. I can hardly wait to see what God does this week in the lives of these precious little ones.
Now, if you will excuse me, I\’m going to go take an Excedrin PM and hit the hay. Goodnight.
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