Good Weather

I attended Central Missouri Senior High camp this summer. On Sunday night as we all arrived, we were to meet at the campfire by the upper lake at Odessa Hills Campground. As we were walking up there, the wind started blowing very hard and it started to rain. Just as we got into the dining hall, it started pouring and a full blown storm began. I figured the way it looked it would last for a couple of hours, but we prayed that God would quiet the storm so we could get back to our cabins safely. We also had some younger children there who were frightened. When the campfire ended, the storm had pretty much ended; the wind had died down, the lightening and thunder were in the distance and the rain had let up to a light sprinkle. We all got to our cabins safely.

By the middle of the week, things were going pretty well. We settled down for chats. The chat leader asked if we were enjoying the weather. We told him we were. He then told us that the next day, we were supposed to have storms and rain. That was pretty depressing because the whole fun of camp is being outdoors, at least it is for me. So a few of us began praying that God would give us a nice day. They had moved the night swim up to the that evening, so we had a quick campfire, then went swimming. Only a few of us went swimming, as the temperature had dropped. The rest of us just laughed at the people freezing in the pool. When we left and got ready for bed, it started to rain! We rushed around to get ready. As we drifted off to sleep, the rain began in earnest. However by the next morning, it was gone! I think that morning broke clearer than any other day that week. We thanked God and went about our duties.

The last night, Friday, we were going to have something very special, called the Trail of Tears. We were to go to four different campsites and listen to the stories of Mary Magdalene, Simon (who carried the cross for Jesus) and Peter. Then we were to go to a final site where we would nail a nail into the cross. It sounded like a great way to end the camp, and we were all looking forward to it. But Friday was cloudy. It looked like the clouds could open up at any given moment and pour down on us. The camp pastor asked us to pray, because if it rained that day, we would not be able to do the Trail of Tears. Many of us, if not all, prayed that the weather would hold. And it did! The clouds stayed with us all day, but the rain never fell. When we all got to the final site, we were just listening and singing, thinking about what had just been told to us. Then our camp pastor came up and said "Thank you all for praying about tonight, now, look at the sky!". The stars were out! All the clouds were gone and all was bright.

The camp was a lot of fun, and a good experience for me. I am so glad I went. I can't wait for next year! I know this is long, but I love the fact that God doesn't limit His good works to us and wanted to share all three times. He blessed us simply through the weather. There are other testimonies to be shared from this camp, but this is my favorite.

Sarah Bressman