Ivy is as Ivy does

We're on Day 3 of our VBS at Eunice. My tiny appendages at the end of swollen, ugly feet have committed toe suicide, I think. I am staggering toward the end. But God is so good He's taking us through it, not to it. Or whatever the cliche of the day might be.

Here's the story: Every Friday at 2 a.m. JoAnne Whalen’s cell-phone alarm goes off and the 60-year-old wakes up in her Bethany, Okla., bedroom, boots up her computer and watches a prayer service streaming live from central New Jersey. The bespectacled man singing hymns on Whalen’s screen in the middle of the night is Steven Nagy, a Newark native who ministers at the International House of Prayer, which provides round-the-clock prayer and worship, 365 days a year. He’s also the driver who pulled over last June when Whalen’s 37-year-old son lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a guardrail.

And he’s the man who ran toward Anthony Whalen as he lay dying on the shoulder of Route 78 and stayed with him, whispering prayers into his ear, as the motorcyclist took his last breath. That vision, of a stranger giving comfort to her son in his final moments, is what now gives JoAnne Whalen solace.

Sing like never before, oh, my soul.

Halfway through the marathon that is VBS, I'm seeing more and more delighted faces, young and old. The joy has become malignant, and we're collecting it every bit as much as we are soup labels or money. VBS is about, it seems to me, connecting with each other and finding that the mysterious thing we call fellowship is as contagious as Poison Ivy on fair skin. Just get out the Calamine and pour like your life depended on it.

The kids' joy has collected in puddles like rain water, and I must tell you that even as these tired ol' bones and muscles have  become saturated with this out-pouring of joy, they've absorbed the newness and freshness of each day and then let that joy flow onto others. It's wonderful to watch. It's wonderful to hear. It's wonderful to be a part of.

I'm "in charge" of games, although I'm not too sure I've been in charge of anything. It's more like the games have gone on around me, and I wouldn't dream of trying to say we've learned anything -- Biblical or otherwise.

But what I will say is that God has joined us again, and that's a beautiful thing every year. Pour me up another glass of Calamine. It's time to toast.