Camping and Praying

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

Three is my favorite number.  It’s a number that pops up again and again and always seems to have significance in my life.  The number three has great significance in our faith history.  The Holy Trinity, three wise men, he rose on the third day; I could go on and on.  I also love the number because there are three little Wohlferts.  This week the number three is significant because that’s the number of days I got to spend at camp with the middle lovelies.  They were three absolutely gorgeous weather days and three days packed full of great stuff with great people.

I got to spend three days watching the middle lovelies learn to do all kinds of new things like build a shelter and a fire in the woods.  I got to watch them discover that a group project doesn’t go so well when its all chiefs and no Indians.  It was amazing to sit back on a stump and see how they learned to trust each other and work together.  I got to watch them be serious, silly, prayerful and amazed all in a three day time slot.  They began to discover some of the things that made them alike and some of the things that made them different.  The real learning will take place when they begin to figure out how to work, learn and play together in spite of their differences.

There were leaves and roots and berries to identify and eat, there were canoes to paddle and hikes in the dark.  There were animals and zip lines and arrows to shoot.  There was poison ivy to stay away from and compass coordinates to move towards.  There were friends you liked and friends who bugged you.  There were things that got lost and things that were found.  The thing that was constant was the noise.  It was three days full of ideas, laughter, learning and fun but the most amazing thing happened after dark each night…prayer.  I was absolutely amazed at the transitions the middle lovelies could make from chaos to silent prayer.  Monday night they were coming back from a no flashlight dark night hike and we could hear them coming from a half mile away.  They got to the front door of the lodge and we asked them to come in for our evening prayer service and in three seconds flat, they went from crazy loud to silent prayer ready.  The second night it happened again.  They went from a loud chaotic activity straight into quiet prayerfulness.  The intentions they offered for prayer were deep and thoughtful.  The burdens they rested on the cross were heartfelt and seriously considered.  The list of sins, shortcomings and weaknesses they ran through the paper shredder were given serious prayerful consideration and they let the symbolism of the activity wash over them and prayed for forgiveness and the strength to live as stronger Disciples of Christ.  They offered God reverence and prayerfulness in a way I didn’t really think twelve year olds were capable of.  As we finished the second night of prayer and challenged them to be a light in the world, they had a chance to lift off a sky lantern.  We all stood watching the sky fill with glowing lanterns and then whipping across the sky was the brightest, longest, shooting star I’ve ever seen. Most of us saw it and the middle lovely standing near me said, “I think God is happy with us!”  I of course agreed.

A Seed To Plant: Take a lesson from the middle lovelies…take a few minutes to escape the noisy, busy chaos of your day and transition to quiet prayer.  The power is amazing!

Blessings on your day!