This past January, God worked out a miracle for our oldest son to go to the "Nationals", a Bible Quizzing tournament that we felt we couldn't afford to attend as a family, let alone to send just one person. A family intervened that we hardly knew and took him under their wings, covering many of the expenses enabling him to go. Well, unbelievably, it has happened again, but this time for our oldest daughter.
She had wanted to go to a Worldview Camp this summer, but it was quite expensive. We would have loved to cover it, but we had already paid for her driving lessons as her big 16th birthday gift. Then, she thought she could pay for it herself, but we really weren't sure that we could even let her go as haying season is so unpredictable and she has become an integral part to the process driving the tractor! If we had registered her for the camp, as Murphy's Law goes, no doubt that would have been the week we would be haying. We had to sit her down one night and just tell her to let it go, surrender her rights as our son did, and just trust the Lord to work it out for next year. There was just no way we could swing it this summer....or so we thought!
Then yesterday morning I was checking my emails and something came through from the homeschool support group that I attend. It mentioned the Worldview Camp and had been specifically sent by them to all homeschool groups to say there were a few spots left and some PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIPS. If anyone was interested, email asap and let them know. I stopped and wondered if this was a prompting from the Lord. Last minute. Love that. The final day before anymore could be accepted. Love that, too. Hmmm....God of the 11th hour again? Wasn't sure, but it made me wonder! Registration had stopped ages ago. Partial Scholarships.....hmmmmm.....my mind starting whirring with the potential possibility of her going. I ran upstairs to my sleeping husband. "Uh, time to get up!" Eyes still closed. "Hey, uh, I got an email this morning about the camp "S" wants to go to. They say there are still spots and scholarships available. What do you think?" With eyes closed, he grunted, "No...too expensive," and kept sleeping. Disappointed, I went downstairs, kept cleaning in the kitchen and then returned back to the room to tidy upstairs. This time he grunted to me, "Email them about what the scholarships mean....how much do they cover?" "Ok!" I ran back downstairs and emailed the camp immediately. I got a response right away and ran back upstairs! "They cover half the cost of the camp. No questions asked. A complete honour system." Now I was excited. He was awake by now and coming downstairs. I wasn't saying a thing to "S", our daughter...not yet.
One of our big things is having our children always with someone they can trust that is safe. We didn't know anyone that she could go with. I suggested a few names, but it is super hard for most people to be last minute with such a big expense and to send a child away for a week. So my mind was blank. Then suddenly, a name occurred to me that I knew might be going. I quickly called the mom who answered right away, "Is your daughter going to that worldview camp?" "Yes! She is going with a girl who she met at church who has the exact same name as your daughter, same hair, eye colour, braces and her dad has the same name, too!" What a funny coincidence! I laughed and told her what we were thinking and that I just wanted to make sure her daughter would be there. Well, she was, with my daughter's twin apparently, and that girl's older sister. I asked her to commit to pray for us for the next hour or two as we struggled with the decision. She stopped me and said, "Let's just pray right now together." Amen! So together we prayed for wisdom and clarity. Two minutes later RM walked in and said, "Ok, let's call the "L's" (good friends of ours that have a duaghter her age)." "Don't need to," I said, "I found out "A" is going (the friend I had just talked to.)" "Ok, then she's going." "Yeah!!!!!" I quickly ran to the computer to tell the camp we would love to take a spot at the camp and would it be possible to sneak our daughter into the same room as those other girls. Right away she emailed back that she'd just been working on room assignments and that yes, she could do that! Oh my goodness. I couldn't believe how fast things were coming together. Then we called "S" down......
"Good news and bad news!" I called upstairs. That's what I always say when I'm about to introduce something to the kids that they might not like to hear. "Oh no, what is it?" S asked. "Bad news....you need to cancel your piano and driving lessons. You won't be able to make them." "What? Why?" RM then started to tease her, "Do you have a suitcase? Can you pack fast? Do you want to still go to that Worldview Camp?" Her eyes were just getting bigger and bigger. How could this be? We'd said no! She thought we were teasing her, but then I announced, "You are going to camp!!!" She couldn't believe it and was so excited!!! Then I told her she'd be going with her good friend (and the other girls she hadn't met). I told her to quickly call her friend to tell her as she didn't know our daughter would be coming. It would be a fun surprise to tell her, too. Both girls were now over-the-moon excited!
God did a personal miracle for my daughter. In the movie, Facing the Giants, after they win the Championships, the coach tells them, "I hope you'll always look back on this day and remember what God did." That's what I said to my daughter, too. I hope she'll always look back on this day and see what God did for her. I love it. I think that is why God does these things so personally sometimes, so they will be able to look back on their life, when they are down or struggling, and they'll remember the personal miracle God did for them, just them, and they'll remember how faithful He was and is. I can tell already it has really touched her that He bothered to care for her in this way. She knew yesterday was the final day. She knew the camp started in one day day. She was inwardly sad, but surrendered her rights, just as my other son had. God doesn't always give back what's been surrendered, but sometimes He does! Hay season was over, nothing was going on at the farm this week. We were free to let her go. She can cover the rest of the costs herself. She's going to be at a camp where she'll be exposed to the top speakers in Canada on Worldview and Evangelism. Five sessions a day!!!! She's going to be wasted by the end of the week! She'll get a brief time in the afternoon to play sports or just chill, but most of the time, she's going to be having her head filled with God's Word. We can't think of a better place for her to be right now when she is so open to hearing about these topics and so receptive to the Lord in her life. I'm thrilled for her. We hope to send our boys in the next couple years and when we do, we hope to give back and sponsor another child the way we were sponsored this year. What a blessing for our daughter. It's amazing what a day will bring....you just never know what's going to happen around here......
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