MARTHA GRACE!!! *grin*

I cannot believe that I did a post about Barn-A-Break and DID NOT mention MARTHA GRACE! Martha Grace holds a special place in my heart, even though my actual connection with her is not a close one. For those of you who don't know Martha Grace, she is an amazing young lady that God uses to make people smile out at camp. *grin* God has taught me so much through Martha Grace, and Martha Grace has NO IDEA. *grin*

Martha Grace doesn't communicate the way most people do. Yes, she does speak, but she has somewhat limited vocabulary. Therefore, you have to watch AND listen to see what she's saying. Yep, God has taught me a lot in that! *grin*

As for Martha Grace, you can hear her say "no" quite often throughout camp, even if she isn't in your cabin. She also takes hats off people, is drawn to certain people, and will take your hand for about ten seconds and move on to someone else. The challenge is to get Martha Grace from one place to another at camp. It's cute to watch those who care for her that week or weekend (like last weekend) as they get her from one place to another.

Of course, camp being camp, anyone can help out at any moment with Martha Grace to get her around camp. I was walking back to my cabin, and Martha Grace was standing outside my cabin and her cabin volunteers were waiting for her to start walking. She saw me, took my hand, and we started walking to her cabin. I was wearing my hoodie, and she put my hood up, and said, "Hat." I laughed, kept the hood up, and we walked. I think she tried to stop once, and I took the hood off, and she put it back up, and I said something like, "Look, I have a hat, let's go!" and she continued to walk with me all the way to her cabin. I will admit, I LOVED it. I love that girl, but I also love that God used me in that moment to help one of His kids in a special way. (Martha Grace was smiling the whole time too, which made it even more special!)

I think that's the most amazing thing for me about Barnabas. We help each other in ways that are unique to camp. From walking from place to place, to being a "Third", to everything in-between, serving the Lord at camp is something I really enjoy. It's a world very different from the real world. *grin*

As for Martha Grace, well, she'll still be at camp, I imagine. Still saying, "No", taking hats, introducing people to each other, and making everyone smile. I hope I'm there when she's there. She makes camp more special when she's there, in my opinion.

Hallmark has an ad campaign that says, "LIFE IS A SPECIAL OCCASION." I think that's what Martha Grace teaches me every time I'm out at camp. I love that!

*grin*
LIFE.
IS.
GREAT!!!