Cabin Devotionals
It was 10:05 and lights-out was scheduled at 10:10. "Hurry, hurry! Come on, girls! I need all teeth brushed and everyone in their bunks by the time I get in there- that's only five minutes!" I hurried to finish getting ready for bed myself and then flipped out the lights in the cabin at exactly 10:10.
After an exciting day at camp (and an ice cream snack about thirty minutes ago), all fourteen of my ten-year-old campers were wired and certainly not ready to go to sleep. They took turns borrowing my flashlight in order to get completely situated, giggling girlishly as they looked for granddaddy long-legs in their sheets and dusted dirt off their stuffed animals.
I sat down in the middle of the floor where they could all see me with the light of the one small flashlight. "Is it time for our bedtime story?" one girl asked as the rest suddenly quieted down to give me their attention.
"Yes, but tonight our cabin devotional is going to be a little different." Instead of the normal bedtime story-parable with a spiritual application, I had a challenge for them instead.
"If I were to ask you to describe God in one word, what word would you use? We can think of many words to describe God, but one of the first words that a lot of people think of is 'invisible'. Most people say this because they can't see God. Yes, God is invisible in that we cannot see Him sitting right here in the floor in front of us, but that doesn't mean that we can't see Him. Tonight, as you go to sleep, think about the many ways that you can see God - in nature, in people, and in everything. Then, you you wake up tomorrow morning, I challenge you to look for Jesus as you go through the day. Tomorrow night, in our cabin devo, each of you will get the chance to tell a bedtime story about how you saw Jesus."
I then took turns going to each girl's bunk to tuck her in and say goodnight. "Will you remind us tomorrow morning when we wake up?" one girl asked sleepily. "Yes, of course," I whispered to her. Then I spoke up and told the whole cabin, "Tomorrow, I will remind you in the morning and at lunch and whenever I see you to look for Jesus."
The next day, the girls remembered better than I did. After we were dismissed from breakfast, one camper said, "Remember to remind us to look for Jesus!" The same thing happened at lunch. When I was supposed to reminding them, they were actually reminding me to look for Him.
That night, after a hectic bedtime routine of fourteen girls taking three-minute showers, asking me to untangle their creek-water-knotted hair, and my saying "brush your teeth" approximately five hundred times, I sat down in the middle of the floor once again and waited for my crazy but totally fun cabin to calm down.
"Ooooh! Can I go first?" one girl asked with such excitement that I could not turn her down. "I saw Jesus today when I went off the rope swing. I was so scared, but then I got brave and everyone was cheering for me."
"You are right," I affirmed her. "Jesus is our courage when we are afraid."
Another spoke. "And I saw Jesus in my friend when she was kind to me today."
"And I saw Him today at the waterfront when everyone was laughing and having a good time."
The next girl rolled up on her elbows and said, "I saw Jesus in the older boys who were helping us on the hike today. Without them, we would have all fallen down!" Then I added, "That is such a good one that I didn't even think about. God is like that because He is always there to hold us up when we are slipping or falling." I looked at the next girl in the bottom bunk and asked, "How did you see Jesus today?"
"I saw Him in the frog we found. He made that frog, and I love frogs."
"And I saw Him in that baby. We had Brian for share time and He has a baby that is soooooo cute!"
I remembered holding newborn babies in Africa, staring into their big brown eyes as they wrapped their whole hands around my one index finger. "Yes, every baby is a miracle from God," I said.
After every girl had shared a bedtime story of how she had seen Jesus in her day, I tucked each one in her bed just like I did every other night. "You know, you can look for Jesus every day, and you will see Him in a different way each time. He's not invisible. We can see Him in everything."
We can see Him in everything. I went to bed with a huge smile on my face, believing in that more than ever.
After an exciting day at camp (and an ice cream snack about thirty minutes ago), all fourteen of my ten-year-old campers were wired and certainly not ready to go to sleep. They took turns borrowing my flashlight in order to get completely situated, giggling girlishly as they looked for granddaddy long-legs in their sheets and dusted dirt off their stuffed animals.
I sat down in the middle of the floor where they could all see me with the light of the one small flashlight. "Is it time for our bedtime story?" one girl asked as the rest suddenly quieted down to give me their attention.
"Yes, but tonight our cabin devotional is going to be a little different." Instead of the normal bedtime story-parable with a spiritual application, I had a challenge for them instead.
"If I were to ask you to describe God in one word, what word would you use? We can think of many words to describe God, but one of the first words that a lot of people think of is 'invisible'. Most people say this because they can't see God. Yes, God is invisible in that we cannot see Him sitting right here in the floor in front of us, but that doesn't mean that we can't see Him. Tonight, as you go to sleep, think about the many ways that you can see God - in nature, in people, and in everything. Then, you you wake up tomorrow morning, I challenge you to look for Jesus as you go through the day. Tomorrow night, in our cabin devo, each of you will get the chance to tell a bedtime story about how you saw Jesus."
I then took turns going to each girl's bunk to tuck her in and say goodnight. "Will you remind us tomorrow morning when we wake up?" one girl asked sleepily. "Yes, of course," I whispered to her. Then I spoke up and told the whole cabin, "Tomorrow, I will remind you in the morning and at lunch and whenever I see you to look for Jesus."
The next day, the girls remembered better than I did. After we were dismissed from breakfast, one camper said, "Remember to remind us to look for Jesus!" The same thing happened at lunch. When I was supposed to reminding them, they were actually reminding me to look for Him.
That night, after a hectic bedtime routine of fourteen girls taking three-minute showers, asking me to untangle their creek-water-knotted hair, and my saying "brush your teeth" approximately five hundred times, I sat down in the middle of the floor once again and waited for my crazy but totally fun cabin to calm down.
"Ooooh! Can I go first?" one girl asked with such excitement that I could not turn her down. "I saw Jesus today when I went off the rope swing. I was so scared, but then I got brave and everyone was cheering for me."
"You are right," I affirmed her. "Jesus is our courage when we are afraid."
Another spoke. "And I saw Jesus in my friend when she was kind to me today."
"And I saw Him today at the waterfront when everyone was laughing and having a good time."
The next girl rolled up on her elbows and said, "I saw Jesus in the older boys who were helping us on the hike today. Without them, we would have all fallen down!" Then I added, "That is such a good one that I didn't even think about. God is like that because He is always there to hold us up when we are slipping or falling." I looked at the next girl in the bottom bunk and asked, "How did you see Jesus today?"
"I saw Him in the frog we found. He made that frog, and I love frogs."
"And I saw Him in that baby. We had Brian for share time and He has a baby that is soooooo cute!"
I remembered holding newborn babies in Africa, staring into their big brown eyes as they wrapped their whole hands around my one index finger. "Yes, every baby is a miracle from God," I said.
After every girl had shared a bedtime story of how she had seen Jesus in her day, I tucked each one in her bed just like I did every other night. "You know, you can look for Jesus every day, and you will see Him in a different way each time. He's not invisible. We can see Him in everything."
We can see Him in everything. I went to bed with a huge smile on my face, believing in that more than ever.
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