Stretching Joy - More From Trinidad

One of the prayers I prayed while in Trinidad was that our children would begin to learn to say "Yes" when God asks something of them.  I want to be able to show that to our children through the things I say and do and for them to come to simply expect and accept that is what we do as a family and as individual Christians.  Jesus tells us to show our love for Him through our obedience, and I want that for myself and for our children.

Throughout the week I had opportunities to work with Joy on this very issue and to pray with her.  One struggle she faced was in sharing her "stuff" that she brought along.  Because we had a 9 hour layover in Miami and over 6 hours on airplanes that first day, I had packed each of our children a bag of surprises.  It included new coloring books ($1 each) and some Usborne sticker books among other things.

While in camp, Joy started off willing to share some of her coloring pages with her cabin-mates, but was selective about which ones she was willing to share.  She wanted to save her favorites for herself, which is understandable and is our human nature.  But this also gave me an opportunity to talk with her about stretching and being more obedient to Christ's call to do "for the least of these."  I spoke with her about the blessings she has in her life and how she does not know the background of the girls in her cabin.  I explained she could show love by sharing all of her coloring pages...not just the ones she did not like.  We kind of joked that one day Jesus may say to her, "I wanted to color and you shared your favorite pages with Me."  And we prayed together, that God would help Joy choose to set aside what she wanted and be willing to share even when it is difficult.

We also set up some level of protection for her things with her cabin counselors, because some of the girls in the cabin were going into Joy's bags without her permission.  I wanted Joy to understand that while she does need to learn to be obedient to Christ's leading it was okay still to have privacy.

I am happy to report that God was faithful to answer our prayers, and Joy was able to release her hold on some of her favorite coloring pages and share them with her new friends.  I praised her for being willing to be obedient to God's leading and rejoiced in the work God was doing in our little girl!


And now it's time for some pictures from the week...

Joy after mud baseball.  Apparently she offered the photographer (Mr. Gabe) a hug, but he opted for a picture instead!

She is all cleaned up.  Joy LOVES to find a downspout any time there is a downpour.  This is now a tradition she has for each trip to Trinidad.

Performing in the first annual talent show...who knew a Chipette voice would be so well received!

And, Mr. Gabe finally agreed to that hug once she was all cleaned up!!