Yup, you guessed it… CHANGE.
I diligently downloaded the VBS Lab 4 videos, some sign songs from DWW, and some sign songs from Deaf Harbor. The director, chaplain, and I were looking forward to the fabulous ASL’ness of it all. Friday morning arrived, time for the chaplain’s message and the video he selected for it.
Not so fast.
The computer decided that Friday morning would be an excellent time to crash. Kaplouey! No videos, no way, no thank you.
So, Raymond had to back up & punt…but he was ready, so he did a fine job. The afternoon lesson was low-tech and went well, and one of the permanent volunteers arranged for us to use her computer with the large screen TV for the evening lesson.
We piled the kids into the video room, watched Paula introduce Kitchen Science, calmly walked in a line to the tables inside where helpers prepared 21 place settings, did the experiments and returned to the video room for Paula’s application. God’s ways work, in science and in life.
Then we added a surprise science show-n-tell. The story of a sweet baby who starts getting demanding, then grows big enough to swipe cookies off the counter and tell mom s/he didn’t do it. In progression, clear water turns yellow/orange then, gasp!, purple/black! We all have sin, from the youngest to the oldest, but the life surrendered to Jesus will be clean again – that’s His promise and the whole reason He came to earth as God in human skin.
A target message for this retreat was that Jesus’ light shows through us as we trust and obey Him. The natural darkness of our hearts gets replaced by His attitudes and ways. How many of the new words on our board do you display? The one that stood out for me was where someone wrote Joshua 1:9 – be strong and courageous, because God is with you.
We started seeing some positive attitude changes – pray for the 14 deaf and 13 hearing kids who spent some time at Isaiah’s Place this week. Each person has their own story, complete with challenges and unexpected changes. But here’s the thing – God is NEVER surprised. He’s already planned for every possibility and every change.
He may have been chuckling as we made plans for this retreat, because yes, several of them met with a few adjustments. All in all, the kids had fun, the injuries were minor, and the seeds were planted and/or watered. May God give the increase.
God NEVER changes – His promises will be kept, no matter what. So, there are two constants: Change and God.
Dear Janeen, thanks for this delightful post and all the good reports. Sounds wonderful how was your message last night?
And you’re right, God is never surprised-you will never hear the sound of “oops” in heaven!