Seeing God in the "Hurricane"

Monday started out as a quiet day. No one really expected hardly a drop of rain. At 4:00, I escorted my kids to the climbing tower where we were set to climb. We began hearing low rumbles of thunder in the distance, so we headed towards the indoor tower, thinking that this fast moving storm that came out of nowhere would just blow over.

While we started the first climbers inside, the storm hit hard. Sheets of rain blowing hard in winds anywhere from 70-100 mph (hurricane force). Booming thunder and bright lightning came through and within minutes we were in the dark.

We continued climbing, expecting the storm to end soon and the power to come back on. We saw the wind and rain, but had no idea of how strong this storm truly was. By dinner time, it had let up, but we were left without any power (or water for that matter), plus we had countless down trees all over camp. We were told not to go back to our cabins or through any wooden areas until further noticed. We stalled in the dining hall, and then held an impromptu Bible study indoors and without our own Bible / curriculum. We followed that with some canteen time and by the time that was finished, a generator had been hooked up to the boys cabins water pump. We were finally allowed to go to the cabins and relieved ourselves by flashlight. We then killed the rest of our time with a really fun skit night "American Idol" style with all of the cabins performing skits in the dark as the emergency lights turned off and more storms rolled through. As we turned in early to bed, we had the chance to improvise some fun with our campers.

I taught my guys mafia by flashlight and read to them from a book we've been reading this week. We got free ice cream from the canteen that would have melted anyway, and had an overall fun time.

Somehow, our entire cabin managed to fall asleep in the sticky, warm cabin without any fans. This morning was a cool, clear morning where we could see God's beauty shine through all the damaged forests and flooded athletic field. Both his strength, and his goodness were displayed.

The power finally returned a little after 4 today. I'm thankful it's back on, but the experience of this storm and the following power outage is unique to this group, and I think God definitely used it for the best.

During our Bible study, the guys really opened up and I could see God beginning to move in their hearts. I can only trust that he'll continue working in them this week.

During our extra time to kill, I saw them bond as a cabin group and really connect with each other. That was awesome.

So despite going 3 meals without power/water, a whole 24 hours without showers, and just as much time without any electricity, God was working in the midst of the storm in Mears, MI.