A++

Dear Friends:

I have many hats I wear over the years being in Ministry for the Lord. Today I’m going to add reporter to my list. I am going to write a message from a reporter’s perspective.

As many of you know my husband, I and two other chaperones took 29 tweeners on a winter retreat for what was supposed to be two nights. Wisconsin experienced a lot of snow and the roads were closed on the day we were to leave. I observed a lot of young girls get excited about one more day of snow fun. We choose to do an extra session of bible that evening. I did not have a teaching prepared, but in my heart I felt there needed to be a wrap up of the whole weekend. We discovered when things happen in our lives we have two choices:

1. To get through the time and just move on.

2. Learn as much as we can from that experience. To take the time to find out if we want to make changes in our lives based on what happened.

The girls needed to own their faith for themselves. I can’t make them read their bibles. I can’t make them understand God’s perspective in life. They must pray and seek things on their own. At the end of the session, however, one girl stood and said “if it wasn’t for the snow keeping us here an extra day, we would have never had this meeting.” YES!

Then the next morning came. We were up bright and early to eat and get on the bus. Soon we found out the bus had a part that was frozen and we would be delayed. We were all packed and ready to go waiting in the dining hall. We were told we would be on the road in about one hour or so. That turned into another hour and so on and so on till 5 ½ hours later when we finally boarded the bus.

What I observed from the girls was truly “FAITH IN ACTION.”

When we heard the bus was going to be delayed. I find out that the seventh grade girls united together and prayed for the situation. After they prayed some came and told me that the just prayed for the situation. Why didn’t I get them together and get them to pray?” But the Holy Spirit put that on their hearts and they released their Faith in God to get us through the time till we got home. YES! After they prayed I saw peaceful girls just keeping themselves busy. No fretting, worry or anxiety about the situation at all. Many of the girls called their parents quite frequently to reassure them that they were fine. They came up with so many creative ways to keep themselves busy. One way they kept busy was many of the girls wrote letters to the speaker and thanked him for taking his time to teach them about God. Some girls wrote letters to Marilyn, who made magnets for everyone in our group that said “JESUS LOVES______ (their name)

But all I heard was a lot of laughing, singing, playing games and being silly.

During the trip home, we went through a lot of snow and ice, which again, caused the part on the bus to freeze and we were forced to stop at a truck stop and call for repair. What I saw next again was “FAITH IN ACTION.” The girls went into action figuring out what they should do. A couple of girls decided that the bus driver may need a drink and snack. So they came to me telling me that they want to get him a drink and snack “What did I think?” WOW! They were listening to the Holy Spirit and putting their heart before their own needs. The girls were all very peaceful and listening to us as we asked them to stay in one area and occupy themselves. It was most amazing how fast the hour went. I can’t tell you the abundant peace I saw on all our faces. No what if, no maybe we should….it was all just trusting God and waiting.

That brings me to now. Where I look back and say “why am I not aggravated or upset that I spent two extra days with twenty-nine girls?” The below verses came screaming out of my gut and the Lord said remember these verses. This was lived out these past days.

1Co 12:12 - The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

1 Corinthians 12:26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

God gave each one of us a part to work out the past two days. Some with entertaining us with laughter, some with organization, some with teaching, some with serving, some with cleaning, some with care, some with praying, some with compassion but all with Jesus in our hearts. I truly saw “FAITH IN ACTION.” As a teacher my heart skips a beat that they got it….they really really got it. Each girl has a different gift to offer the group and they just did their part. All of the prayer that went into this weekend was answered and more. We passed the test from God with an A++. So each girl is getting a gold star on their heart for the tremendous use of their time on this trip. It definitely was not spent worrying, complaining or doing anything negative. I saw love, compassion, caring and self-control. BRAVO TO GOD! HE IS THE ONE WHO TAUGHT THE GIRLS AND WILL CONTINUE TO LOVE AND TEACH! What a pleasure and privilege it was to be in the presence of a live teaching assignment. We passed and were going to keep going. I forgot to mention that as we did different snow activities, some were scary and I actually heard girls say “go for it, I will pray for you.” They prayed and tried new activities with the boldness of Jesus.

Let’s pray:

Thank you God for always fulfilling your promise “that you always work everything together for my good. “ Lord for remind me to never waste time, but allow time to teach me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

In closing I can only say that I got a taste of how St. Paul must have felt when he said this greeting to the believers in Corinth “I always thank God for you, because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in Him you have been enriched in every way-in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift(each girl used their gifts) as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” 1 Corinthians 1:4-9.

Thanking God,

Elaine