Memories of Bible School

Sometimes a certain food will bring back a memory. Today that food was Ritz crackers. Whenever I eat Ritz crackers, (especially if I eat them without any toppings) I think of Bible school. That may seem like an odd combination, but …

Back when I moved to La Grange, one of the activities I participated in as a new kiddo in town was the Bible school at St. Paul Lutheran Church. After all, I had been going to Bible school as far back as I can remember. My mom thought it would be a great way for me to meet more people in our new church family. If memory serves me correctly, it was a one or two-week event held in the mornings from about 8 a.m. to noon. There would be a gathering time with prayer, singing and a scripture reading. We would then split up into our grade level classes. There we would have a lesson, followed by a craft or some other activity and then we would have our break time which always included a snack.

Well, that snack is where this memory lives. The week before the scheduled Bible school, the church would ask people to donate cookies for the kiddos to eat during the Bible school session. The church then provided the drink, (usually powdered lemonade) and there were always Ritz crackers. So, the snack consisted of one cookie, one cup of lemonade, and three Ritz crackers. The cookies were always plentiful, but you wouldn’t know it. Every day, we were only allowed one cookie, one cup of lemonade, three crackers. Well, that is until the end of the session.

On the last day, parents and grandparents were invited for a closing program. On that day, the cookies were plentiful. We could have as many as we wanted, and we could even go back for seconds on the lemonade.

When I got older, (after 8th grade) I was allowed to be one of the youth volunteers. I helped out with the nursery school age children so their moms could teach the classes. I think that’s where my babysitting jobs started, but that’s another story. When their snack time came around, even as a helper, I still was only allowed to have one cookie, one cup of lemonade and three Ritz crackers.

Today things are a bit different. My granddaughter recently attended a Bible school day camp. Her attendance began as somewhat of a diversion. Her sister was in the hospital, and Mom was the one who had to stay with her. That meant little sister had to stay with me during the day. My office is not exactly fun for a 5-year-old. So, when we found out that there was a daytime Bible school happening right down the street, we jumped on the opportunity.

She loved all the singing, the crafts and the playtime – and snack time was always a hit. I know that there were some limitations this year because of COVID, but that didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of those attending the camp. The first thing my granddaughter said after it was over was, “Can I go again next year?” My answer, “Absolutely!”

That’s how I always felt about Bible school. It was a welcome diversion from an otherwise (somewhat) boring summer. Truthfully, other than my desire to eat a few more crackers, Bible school was always a great time and is a fond memory still to this day.

I laugh when I think about the women who were in charge of the snacks. They were all of my mom’s generation. They were products of the Great Depression. I guess that is where their need to ration out the snacks came from. Maybe if we applied a little of that mentality to our eating today, our pocketbooks might be a little fatter and we might all be a little thinner.