Vacation Bible School started on Monday. And literally out of the clear blue, my emotions tapped me on the shoulder and asked to cut in.
A hard swallow. ✔️
Misty eyes. ✔️
A pattering heart. ✔️
All the feelings, all unexpected, all at day-one drop-off, all triggered by a song.
I mean, a variety of things could have precipitated this sudden sentimental surge… like how ginormous their extra small t-shirts looked on them — my hair ties pulling the excess fabric into 100% cotton ponytails. Or how our 3-year-old boy bravely walked into an unfamiliar classroom with a quiet confidence, turning back for a reassuring hug and an “I love you, mommy.” Or how the word KINDERGARTEN adorned our daughter’s check-in table — reminding me she is one of the “big” kids now. Or how the baby on my hip clung a wee bit tighter because I am her safe place in a buzzing sea of people.
Any of these could have done it. Yet what got me all verklempt was a song.
I was a few steps out of the church’s sanctuary, on my merry way, when it began to play. Drums pounded. I stopped. I knew this song. Drums pounded again. I knew THEY knew this song. After all, it was track #1 on their VBS CD — played a minimum of 18,000 times at max volume in their playroom-turned-discotheque.
Then the lyrics began…
“Through every storm of life, I know you’re by my side, so I am holding on to your promises. You are the God who holds my future, all my dreams. So I am holding on, you’ll never let go of me.”
Ever so briefly, I returned to the entryway of the sanctuary — to witness, to listen, to absorb, and to hang onto that washed-over-me-feeling as long as possible.
We were in His presence. THAT was the feeling I was feeling. That was the tap on my shoulder.
The room reverberated with truth. And I hoped so deeply that these dancing and clapping and jumping and laughing children could feel it too. That they know how much they are loved. That they trust they are never alone. That they believe their faith can (and will) move mountains.
Then I saw the back of our 5-year-old’s bouncing t-shirt ponytail… I smiled a smile of gratitude… and I left… knowing, trusting, and believing that God will never let go of me. Or them. Or you.