Splinter Stories

Wow. I've been here at camp for 5 weeks now.  Sometimes it seems like we just got here.... and then it feels like I've been here forever.

God is good.  I am constantly amazed by His sustaining grace, His guiding grace, His humbling grace to me.  I don't deserve it, I haven't earned it. He loves me, and that is all I need. Now and forever.

I'd like to share with you a little story about His teaching grace.

The week before last was crazy, loud, insane, explosive, and crazy. Did I mention it was loud and crazy? The junior camp was humongous with over 120 kids. And my church was here, which meant I was willing to risk harm to my eardrums by braving the rabid mob.

But the kids were not a group. They were individuals. Each with a story, personality, and decisions to make of their own.

On Thursday evening, the preacher challenged the lot of them about complaining.  One of the girls in my prayer partner's cabin had been a magnet for splinters. She could walk down a concrete sidewalk surrounded with brick buildings and still get a splinter.

Well, in the middle of the sermon, kinda as a joke, kinda not, the preacher mentioned how instead of saying ouch and complaining if you got a splinter during the trek to the lake, to instead think 'Ok, God, what are you trying to teach me by this? Oh, and thank you for the splinter.' Well the little girl I told you about came out during the invitation along with another girl from the cabin. I counseled both of them about the decision and they both prayed for God to help them and they both ended their prayer with

"Oh, and thank you God for splinters."

The next day, while cleaning up something, I walked past those two and they ran up to me and told me that they thanked God for splinters that morning.

They got it. They truly understood and got the decision. And they convicted me.

How many times do I allow the minor irritants to bug me? Or do I ignore the teaching God has for me through them?  It could be anything: splinters, my siblings, my parents, a dirty bathroom, or my alarm clock. I'm still working through it, and I won't be perfect for a while, but...

Thank you God for splinters

And loud campers.

Because of Him,
Missa