I woke up stressed out on Monday morning. I needed to raise $900 this week to help some of my high school friends get to Young Life snow camp. Our trip to Crooked Creek Ranch is almost here and there are so many of my friends who I'd love to come with me, but $ seems so tight for everyone. I feel that tension and understand that 150 bones is a lot for 48 hours of camp, but I'm just convinced that its worth it, and will be 48 hours of sheer awesomeness.
I prayed. "God, I know that Young Life camp is not the only solution and that You are way bigger than a Giant Swing and Frisbee Golf in the snow, but I'd sure love to be able to give some of these kids the gift of experiencing You at Crooked Creek. If you want that to happen, you're gonna have to show up." He wanted it to happen.
It started earlier this week with a Facebook post I almost didn't write. It was a simple ask for anyone who wanted to sponsor a kid to go to camp. I got only one reply, and it was beyond unexpected. One of my friends in high school, who I probably haven't talked to in 13 years, wrote back and told me that he would love to help. He's mailing YL a check for $150. I'm still blown away and encouraged. You made my week Heath!
Then yesterday Natalie got a random text message from a friend who was visiting us last week and heard me talking about camp. She was asking if we still needed $ to help get kids there. Another $150 in the mail. Totally out of the blue. Thanks Brittany and Chris for loving us by supporting these kiddos! I can't fully express my gratitude.
And then today came...and it was crunch time. I was encouraged, but still needed almost $600. I had made some great plans to rake a few yards with kids, but snow still covered the ground. Now what could I do to raise funds? I had two of my high school friends in the car, but was in a hurry to pick up some more. I was stuck at a red light, but thankful for a windows-down-kinda-day following last week's "wintry mix." I noticed my friend Jan standing on the corner about to cross the street in the quaint Littleton downtown we refer to as Li-do. The red light gifted me enough time to answer her question of what I was up to. "Trying to raise money for camp," I yelled as we drove away. A little while later my phone rang, and it was Jan. She said that she had some work that we could do if I brought some kids over. I'm not sure if she really did need the help or was just trying to find something for these kids to do to help them to get to camp, but either way, she was an answer to prayer. She was an angel at the red light. I'm not sure how hard those guys worked, but I guarantee you they were overpaid! That family blessed our socks off. And boy am I thankful.
Thankful for old friends on facebook, for 160 character text messages that say so much, and even thankful for red lights.
Father, its still crazy to me that You choose to work through such sweet surprises to remind me that You're in control. Forgive me for ever doubting that. I'm just itching to watch You show up in even bigger ways at Crooked Creek. Bring it on...
No comments:
Post a Comment