Little Moments of Grace
I just got back from a very full weekend retreat with our High School students. We narrowly escaped disaster many times - here’s a sample:
1) I lost the keys to our rental van while I was snowboarding. There was no spare key - so there was no way to get home if I didn’t find them. A bunch of dreadlocked stoner guys found them on the side of the mountain and had the good will to call the number of the rental company on the keys. What are the odds?
2) We got about 18″ of snow overnight on our last night there. We needed to be out of town by 9:00 to be on track to get the kids and the rental vans back on time. We got everyone dug out and were gone by about 9:15. One of my youth leaders, a SoCal native with no snow driving experience, was driving my truck with our luggage and spun off the road. He didn’t hit anything, or get stuck.
3) One of the students, a first time snowboarder, took a nasty spill and earned a free snowmobile ride down the mountain and to the first aid cabin. What looked like a sure trip to the ER ended up being just a sprain.
4) On the way home we had gusts of wind like nothing I have ever seen. I felt like I was driving a sailboat. The wind ripped a 2′ x 5′ lid completely off of one of our coolers. It tore the hinges in half. Rather than smashing into a windshield of oncoming traffic, it bounced off into the desert, like a tumbleweed.
Are all these happy endings just coincidences? I have no evidence to suggest otherwise, but I am perfectly happy giving God the credit for how lucky we were. Last night as I was going to bed I played all of these situations out in my head, imagining they gone the other way. I thanked God repeatedly for these little moments of grace this weekend that made all the difference.
Praise God that you all made it safely back. Welcome home.
Comment by Tyler Watson — February 26, 2007 @ 9:01 pm
I can remember several times in youth ministry where sure disasters were avoided. Looking back I can honestly say that the only way we got through those trips, was because of God’s protection and guidance. I always find it cool how God can even use a group of “stoner kids” (a group that most of society would deem as unworthy of much of anything) to help him out. I also find it interesting how God chooses to show us how He is in charge of what’s going on. Glad you had a good trip. As I read, I also realized again how I’m glad I’m not in youth ministry any more, although trips were always a highlight.
Comment by Luke — February 27, 2007 @ 10:58 am
At least we didn’t have 30 kids projectile vomiting at the same time!
Comment by James — February 28, 2007 @ 8:32 am
Wow…now that I look back on it too, we avoided a lot of disasters on that trip. Praise God for not letting anything serious happen.
Comment by Eric — March 2, 2007 @ 10:06 pm