God's COOL Shift to MY Day

When I awoke this morning, I had in my head several things that I had in mind for MY day. I was excited to see the people I knew I would see, and visit one of my favorite places on the planet. I had my own plan, and set out for MY DAY. Boy did God have a couple shifts that I didn't see for me, that made it one INCREDIBLE day!

First, I went and heard Mr. H. preach. I can honestly say that he is growing in his preaching, and it was definitely worth the hour drive to hear him preach. I look forward to future sermons by him, as it's clear God is shaping him into a very good speaker.

After that, I headed to Joplin. I had set up an appointment with Jay-man's Mom yesterday for me to see him today. She had told me to bring my swimsuit and that we would swim. Well, it was initially raining when I went into Joplin, so I figured swimming would be out, but I did get cash because I thought the arcade would be our activity. (Jay-boy, in case your new to the blog, is a former student who lost his home in the Tornado in May. He's precious to me!) So, after I ate lunch, I called to see if I could come pick him up, and as it turned out, he was sick. He was running a fever, and just wanted to sleep. Well, I obviously don't want to be sick, so I wished him well, prayed for him after we hung up, and I wondered what to do at that point.

So, I asked God. I was sitting in my car at McDonald's in Joplin, with four hours to kill until I went out to Camp, so I prayed and texted Karen! I expected her to be at work, and was going to see if I could just hang out at her air conditioned apartment, when she called and said she had the day off work! I was SO SO SO SO SO SO excited! So, we spent the afternoon together. We shopped a bit, but mainly got ice cream and sat and chatted. That's what we do best, is sit and chat! I grow in God EVERY time I sit down with Karen. When I left at 6:00 to head to camp, I was grinning and thanking God for such a blessed afternoon!

My main purpose in visiting Camp Barnabas for the evening was to meet Carley. I have been promising Carley for two summers I would go out and visit, and today I fulfilled that. Carley also has Cerebral Palsy and is wheel-chair bound, but that doesn't stop her! She has a smile that is beautiful, and she even played baseball tonight at the party! I can tell this is the beginning of a great friendship with Carley!

Another blessing was seeing several other gals that were in my cabin at Barn-A-Break. Emily & Kim were there, and that was REALLY neat. There were several others that I have seen before at Barn-A-Break, but didn't know their names. It was neat, I felt like I was at a family reunion and not at a camp. In fact, as I was walking down to the party, the "regulars" kept asking me, "Hey, have you been here all week?" It was really special to me. Of course, I told them I'd be back for Terms 6 & 7, which everyone was excited about!

Of course, seeing Laura is always special to me. We hung out for a few minutes before I joined Carley. I thank God daily for Laura. She's an ABSOLUTE jewel!

Finally, I guess I would honestly have to say the BEST part of the day was seeing Lauren! I didn't realize Lauren (Who was in my cabin this past spring at Barn-A-Break!) would be there this week! I love that gal, and easily see why she's one of Laura's favorites! The MOMENT Lauren saw me, she went crazy in that little chair of hers! I gave her a hug, and she just grinned. I talked to her for a little while, but then she had to go join her cabin. A little while later, I saw her leaving the game with a couple girls, but as she walked by she grinned at me. I just waved...I love that young lady! She's precious! *grin*

I left camp to drive back tonight as I wanted a day to relax tomorrow before Tutoring starts back up this week. But, as I was leaving camp tonight, there was a little boy camper that made me just *grin* ear-to-ear that I wanted to share with you. I have no idea what his name is, but he was headed one way, and I was headed the other way. He looked at me, and said, "Give me a high five!" And I did, and he replied with, "The day is over, see ya tomorrow!" and he just walked on. I stood there a moment and two thoughts occurred to me.

1. The real world really could learn a great deal from the way people treat each other out at camp.
2. I CAN'T WAIT TO BE OUT THERE!

*grin*
LIFE.
IS.
GREAT!!!