For our first craft, we created sock Olafs. Olaf likes warm hugs. We think this is a good thing to remember and great behavior to emulate. Our soft stuffed Olafs remind us that the world really needs a warm hug too. One of the feasts of the Church is the Ascension of the Lord. It marks the 40th day of Easter when Jesus departs from his disciples and returns to back God. (cf. LK 24.51) This is theologically important as it marks an important shift in ministry—rather than Jesus healing and taking care of his disciples and followers, the disciples take care of Jesus! How? Jesus instructed them how to do this. “Whenever you do this for the least of them, you do this for me.” (Mt 25:49)

Our final craft today we call streamer gloves, or dancer gloves. When we don our gloves and wave them through the air, the streaming ribbons flutter a new path with every slight movement of our fingers. A reminder that we are called to think creatively, the way God has created our world. Scientists of every discipline learn something brand new about our universe almost every day. It seems like a never ending stream of possibilities. When we consider the complex problems in our world, or the complex problems in our own households—like remembering not to argue with sisters or brothers or try to convince them into our way of thinking—creativity is what we are called to bring. A fresh look at old problems. Our streamer gloves remind us to try to look for a new a creative solution to attend to the needs of all involved. For example, we can respond to global climate change be creatively looking for a new solution to take care of God’s world, and we can likewise, seek creative solutions in our own household, school, and neighborhood as well.

Our second craft was dry snow globes! At a past VBS, we made liquid filled snow globes and these are really difficult to pull off. Finding a glue that is NOT water soluble and NOT toxic for our campers to work with is a tall order. So our resident artist, Eli (pronounced Ellie) suggested we make dry snow globes this time. So this is what we did!

Our opening video today was Anna singing to her sister and asking, “Do you want to build a snowman? Come on let’s go and play…” Our globes are simple reminder that this wonderful world that God has created for us is an invitation to come and play! To smile and laugh and play is something our world needs more of and can be our gift to a world in need. Snow globes remind us to see the world as God sees it: a place to play and to smile!

Our first craft was rock families. It is a reminder that we need to seek and trust those sources of Godly wisdom in our family and communities. Trusted family members, teachers, mentors, and friends have earned our respect and the right to be heard!

Our second craft today was Olaf bottles. These “melted” Olafs in a bottle remind us that the “powers and principalities" of this world want to corrupt the way of God and draw us from the love and justice of God and into the paralyzing arms of fear. It is in times of stress and worry that we can literally feel “pulled apart.” Yet, even though we feel dissected, the Holy Spirit is still there with us and surrounds every pore and cell of our body and soul. Our bottles remind us when the world pulls us apart, God will be with us and hang onto us!

Our final project of the day was Sven hats! Sven was the trusting and loyal friend ready to stand in Christoph’s way and get him moving in the right direction to do the right thing. Not only are we called to listen to these trusted friends and companions, but also be the voice of justice in the world, and to share God’s love in times of need. For example when our classmates at school are making fun of someone or gossiping in hurtful ways, our Sven hats remind us to do the right thing and stand up and speak up for justice and God’s love!

During Tent Time this morning, our campers decorated their craft box. Counselors and staff will fill these boxes with each camper’s crafts daily so on Friday, each camper will take home a treasure box filled with their crafts. This is helpful in a couple ways: 1. It gives time for gloppy and paint filled crafts time to dry before they get loaded into our cars. 2. In the event that a camper misses a particular day at VBS, which is always a sad event, that camper’s craft materials for the day are placed in her/his box so they can be completed at home.

Today our campers created and/or decorated wooden mazes. These 8” square mazes have 49 4-penny bright box nails (the nails have a flat head) about 1/4 of the way set into the wood, a handful of rubber bands, and one “Olaf snowball” marble. The idea is that our campers can create a maze path with the rubber bands and then trace the path with their snowball. Our mazes are a simple reminder that fear can get us lost and when we keep our eyes on God’s love, peace, and justice, before long … we will be un-lost! :)

Our second craft is a reminder of how much of the world seems to respond to fear, through the use of violence and power. The Duke of Weasel Town is the power hungry minister of business who sends two of his henchmen armed with crossbows to destroy Queen Elsa so he and his country could overthrow and rule. To remind us there is a better way than seeking power and violence, our campers decorated their very own crossbows. Our crossbows, however, are not tools of violence that shoot darts or arrows. Our crossbows remind us we are called to inject love and peace in a world full of pain. To this end, our crossbows shoot marshmallows! And who, other than me, doesn’t love marshmallows??? Our crossbows remind us to eschew the quest for power and dominance and seek to be the sowers of God’s love in the world.

For our third craft we decorated a sword. The henchmen of the Duke of Weasel Town and the misled soldiers of Airindale came after Elsa with swords and crossbows as mentioned above. The author of Ephesians tells us we are called to carry the sword of the spirit—God's word of Love. So too, our swords remind us that we are called by God to seek justice for the poor and oppressed in the world, and defend those who are misunderstood like Elsa.

Our Tent Time craft today was key-chain charms to remind us not to hide when we are afraid, like Elsa did in the ice palace she created. Rather, we should go with God and see what wonders God has in store for our world when we see past the fear into the truth that lies beyond. The key to unlocking fear is God’s love!

Remembering who and whose we are is the focus of our first craft. Today we decorated circular mirrors to remind us we are children of God. So when we look into the mirror, we can be reminded at all times that we are children of God, created in God’s image (Gen. 5.1) and called to proclaim the Gospel (Mk 16:20) of God’s love, justice, and peace in a world full of pain.

Our second craft were what we call ice candles. We filled a 1/2 gallon milk or juice carton with ice and then (the staff) poured molten wax in them to form a candle. We also placed with in it a heart shaped candle to remind us that God’s love will thaw a frozen heart! When the ice melts, we have left a lovely “Swiss cheese” ice candle. Our candle is a simple reminder that we are called to be the light of the world and not to hide the light of God’s love in the world. (Mt 5:14-16) Rather, we are to speak the truth, share compassion and understanding, and be seekers of peace and justice for all.

Our final project of the day was to remind us of what we are called to do and be in this world—agents of God’s peace and love. One of my favorite lines in the entire story is from Olaf when he tends the dying Anna and risks his own life by building a fire for her. He tells her, “Some people are worth melting for.” From God’s perspective ALL people are worth melting for, and our job as children of God is to care for the world and all God’s creation.

So our final project of the day was to decorate our Airindale cloak. Anna leave Prince Han in charge of Airindale. To trick the people of the community into thinking he was there to care for them, he hands out cloaks to those who were cold from the sudden onset of winter. His intention was not honorable, but his action was good. Our cloaks remind us that God’s Holy Spirit is wrapped around us at all times as we go forth to take care of God’s people and creation. The world is just waiting for us, and wrapped in our cloaks we are ready to share God’s love!

Out Tent Time craft was a simple foam Olaf snowman to remind us of his great gift to Anna—some people are worth melting for. It can hang on a wall in our rooms or on the door knob to remind us to be agents of God’s love in the world.

On our final day at VBS we crafted two projects to remind us of God’s love. The first was a snowflake scepter to remind us that we are children of God and a part of God’s royal family. (1Peter 2.5) We are invited to take our place in the royal courts and claim our responsibility for sharing God’s love, peace, and justice in this world full of need.

Our final craft today was what we call “I Love You Gloves.” These stuffed gloves displaying the American Sign Language sign for “I Love YOU” and the modern hand sign for “Peace” remind us of how we are called to care for the world.

Our Tent Time craft today was a simple foam heart. A reminder of the most important theological concept in the universe … Love Wins!