I know I'll be complaining bitterly when the sun sets at 4:30, though. But then I do each year, it seems.

I'm already usually leaving work when it's at least mostly dark, so I shouldn't notice that part so much... check me tomorrow if I'm trying to leave work at 4!

ooo, I forgot about the gift of an hour today! Now I'm happy. I'm so happy, I'm gonna go wash dishes.

My apartment is such a mess, you wouldn't believe. I mean really. I'm normally messy, but this is beyond what even I can deal with. Many trash bags are needed.

I remembered to buy plastic spoons -- I've been taking snack-sized apple sauce with me to class and have to bring metal spoons from home for them!

Oh my. Left Behind VBS fiasco lingers

READING, Pa. — When Sandy Durant learned her church was going to host a Left Behind vacation Bible school, she was overjoyed. Her children loved the Left Behind Kids series, and she and her husband had read the entire adult series.

But when she arrived to find her children gone on the last day of VBS she "absolutely flipped out."

It didn’t help to learn that it was all a ruse designed to show people what it would feel like to have a loved one snatched away in the Rapture.

"I’m a big Left Behind supporter, but this went too far," she says.

Dozens of other parents agreed with her. They are demanding restitution and an apology from the publisher.

The edgy and unusual Left Behind VBS was intended to breathe new life into the slowing brand. The program was tested in 14 churches, mostly in Pennsylvania, and involved realistic fear tactics.

At one point the kids huddled in a darkened room while sound effects made it sound like giant hail was ripping through the church roof. Noises also simulated fire, earthquakes and panicked people stampeding and screaming.

"It was very believable," says one teacher. "I knew it was fake and I was still scared."

They had to stop the CD and turn the lights on because kids began screaming.

On another day the teachers had the children close their eyes, and when they opened them, half the group had been quietly led out of the room.

"That’s what it will feel like if you’re left behind when the Lord comes back," said a teacher as children sobbed.

On the last day, parents were told that their children had been raptured.

"We wanted to illustrate how terrible it would be if their kids went to heaven, but the parents just hadn’t made that commitment to Christ," says the VBS director.

Though the sham went on for just two minutes, some parents became frantic. One woman began hyperventilating. A man literally lifted the welcome desk and tossed it into the wall, causing thousands of dollars in damage. Chaos ensued.

Reminds me of those Christian conferences for kids where they subject them to fake military assault, with soldiers firing blanks, in order to get the kids to see what might happen to them in the future when the government goes after Christians.

Terrorists. That's absolutely insane.

I have no words. None.

I can kind of see what that Golden Compass guy is getting at when he says religion is child abuse.

I can kind of see what that Golden Compass guy is getting at when he says religion is child abuse.

That's a little broad, though I think in this instance it's true.

Reminds me of those Christian conferences for kids where they subject them to fake military assault, with soldiers firing blanks, in order to get the kids to see what might happen to them in the future when the government goes after Christians.

Considering how evangelical the military brass tends to be, I don't think it's the Christians that need to worry about government stormtroopers kicking down their doors.

"We wanted to illustrate how terrible it would be if their kids went to heaven, but the parents just hadn’t made that commitment to Christ," says the VBS director.

Oh, I hope there were angry parents present when he spouted that one off. Preferably with aluminum baseball bats near at hand.