By the Rev. Suzanne Appelo, Gull Harbor Lutheran Church of Olympia

We had a Gull Harbor kind of week at vacation Bible school. "Peace" was our theme. We learned that peace is about sharing and getting along and knowing that God loves us. Adult Denise showed up with a piece of broken plate because she heard we were talking about "piece." Katy, 4, raised her hand (because we all took our turns) and announced to Denise that we were talking about a different kind of piece/peace. Austin, 9, whose father is in Baghdad, proclaimed that peace is when people are nice and there is no war. Pastor Appelo wrote Katy and Austin's words down because she figured that they knew more than she did.

A few highlights:
1. Luke, Jane and Lilly, all 12, proved to be very good junior leaders.
2. Lynn, 4, after ear canal surgery, stood up to help lead songs.
3. Evan, who has autism, joined in with the singing.
4. Teen Leaders Grace and Spencer acted mature beyond their years.
5. Adult Chuck, acted like each child deserved the attention he gave
his grandkids Katy and Braden.

Pictured: 1. Coordinator Sarah helped us with some amazing fabric peace crafts. She handed out pieces of fabric. Then the adults stood back (which was nice because mostly they hovered) and we all worked together to make this rainbow. 2. We added leaves to this tree. One day we wrote "love" on each leaf;another day we wrote "peace," another day we added our names. Every time Pastor Appelo saw it she'd say, "and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." 3. Adult Sarah made a globe with pieces of fabric. Then we got to color/decorate a person (we got to use fabric marker pens so we had to be careful not to draw on our clothes or the table or the walls. Adults!) Some of the people are Superheros, some hippies, some normal, some just weird. I guess it takes all types.