20 years ago, we lived in a much different world. We somewhat-legally downloaded music and burned CDs on a near-nightly basis. We looked forward to the release of Pirates of the Caribbean…on DVD!  Shakira taught us the importance of Honest Hips, and even if we didn’t have many real friends, at least we had Tom on MySpace.  And we really needed the comfort of mixtapes, good movies, and friends in 2006, because that was the year we lost Pluto as a planet.  I still cry a little when I end my Solar System list with Neptune…rest easy, Little Dwarf.

But despite the aforementioned tragedy, 2006 was pretty awesome. And as we were cleaning up the church in the aftermath of Vacation Bible School, my daughter found another movie that released 20 years ago: Larry-Boy and the Bad Apple.  So we popped in the VeggieTales DVD, scraped the layer of dust off the 8-inch screen TV, and were immediately transported to a time when vegetables brought Bible stories to life, taught us valuable lessons about navigating temptation, and made us laugh with slapstick comedy and silly songs.  I may have even worn my own Super Suction Ears as a tribute to the heroic cucumber while we watched.  After all, I was Larry at Vacation Bible School for many years!

But it’s 2026 now.  20 years and 4 college degrees later, my titles have shifted from “Larry-Boy” and “Cucumber” to “Dad” and “Coach.” (There are some other credentials in there, too, but I don’t really care about those).  But what HASN’T CHANGED is the closing statement from every VeggieTales episode:

“God made you special, and He loves you very much.”