Everything I need to know about God I learned at Vacation Bible School

This week I took a little detour off the normal road and found myself at 'Crocodile Dock'.

CHESAPEAKE,Va. (Catholic Online) - Remember that wonderful poster that says "Everything I need to know about life I learned in Kindergarten"? It reads:

"Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life.
Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder."

Well, this week I took a little detour off the normal road and found myself at Crocodile Dock. I arrived with a weary heart, a burdened mind, and a tired body. Now after a week in the Hokeybadjokey Swamp with the fireflies and crocs and 150 kids, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: Everything I need to know about God I learned at Vacation Bible School.

Who would've thought that what my weary heart needed was some swamp-stomping, singing, and silliness? Divine medicine! As it turns out, all that clapping and shouting and dancing was really a refresher course in pure theology.

I was reminded that:

• God is with us.

• God is powerful.

• God does what He says He'll do.

• God gives us life.

• God cares for us.

• God is the one we can trust.

• I'm forgiven because Jesus was forsaken.

• I will not be afraid because God is always here.

• I get down, He lifts me up.

• I need to let my little light shine. Everywhere I go. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Yes, even the truth about God - especially the truth about God - is found in the simplest doctrine. No graduate degree is needed to grasp the important things. In fact, these stunning truths can only be fully appreciated by the heart of a child.

It's hard to hold onto a childlike nature. Growing older is inescapable and it seems that as the vivid imagination fades away, as the impulse to jump up and down and shout out loud with excitement is suppressed, as we put away our childish things, we end up putting away our pure, unspoiled joy as well. We pack up our innocence in a box labeled "Maturity" and with it goes our sense of wonder. Too bad...there's so much to be in awe of.

We all need to open up that box and take out some childlike faith and joy and try it on again. We haven't really outgrown it; it still fits like it was tailor-made for us, because it was. "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Mark 10:15

Yes, God is beyond our mortal comprehension, but He doesn't ask us to comprehend - He asks us to love Him, to follow Him, to trust Him, to be like Him. God is indeed mysterious, but He's not complicated. He hides nothing from us. He only plays seek-and-find, and He wants to be found!

Us big folks need children around us to help us remember how to approach our Heavenly Father. Come like a child - unpretentious, genuine, and eager. Imagine like a child. Believe like a child, though you don't understand the how or why. Trust like a child. Take God at His word and believe that He does what He says He'll do. Because God is always with us, He is powerful, and He gives us life!

So here's your mission: Take out your childlike nature and get comfortable with it again. Look up at your Dad with awe at how big and strong He is. Smile without worry because you know your Dad's gonna take care of everything. Say "I want to be just like my Dad" and then mimic everything He does. Then, last but not least, let your little light shine before men... everywhere you go, always.

(Hmmm... maybe next year we should send all the grown-ups to Vacation Bible School!)

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Jennifer Hartline is a Catholic Army wife and stay-at-home mother of three precious kids who writes frequently on topics of Catholic faith and daily living. She is a contributing writer for Catholic Online.

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