A Michelle Day

I had desperately been needing a day all to myself. Sometimes you just have to do it no matter how much you might love your family.

So when the April work weekend for Camp Grow came up, I decided to go alone. It'd be easier without the kids under foot anyway and I really needed some personal Michelle time. After my date with Tim on Friday night, I decided to just drive to camp already instead of trying to get up really early the next morning to do it since I'm a far cry from a morning person. The two hour drive there was peaceful and quiet. It gave me a lot of time to think and pray. I haven't felt that close to God in a while. Prayer time at home is often interrupted -- I usually need to write my prayers out or even just say them out loud.

Well, I prayed and sang for a good hour. My already fading voice got even more raspy, but it was worth it. God always knows what we need.

The last few miles to camp required a little more focus as all the nightlife was out and about. Some of the animals almost seemed to be waiting for me to come along. I hit a raccoon. He was asking for it while hiding in the shadows while I was paying more attention to his brother running off into the field. The deer were playing chicken in the road. I'm so glad I grew up in deer country or I might not have slowed down in the areas where I would've normally wanted to cruise.

By the time I got to camp, my head was throbbing -- I had hoped my migraine would be gone by now. It was 11 o'clock at night and no one seemed to be in the lodge and didn't want to wake anyone up by the director's house so I just went to bed. An hour later, I woke up to sounds of fire crackers and then the camp's golf cart. I just sat there listening as footsteps pounded down the hall and door creaked open and shut. My migraine was completely gone -- a small miracle in my eyes.

The next day, I woke up before my alarm. Instead of just lying in bed and thinking about falling back to sleep, I actually got up right away. I was ready for a day of hard work. It was nice to feel productive in a way that wasn't directly benefiting me. Cleaning up all the old shingles from a roofing project was way more satisfying that picking up the kids' toys only to know that they'd be strewn across the floor again in a matter of hours. While I prayed the night before, I asked God to just give me a servant's heart for the work weekend. I was fairly certain that I would be one of the only girls and was having a hard time coping with the fact that I might be stuck doing kitchen duty -- cleaning, making meals, doing dishes, etc.

God was faithful -- Even though I was the only girl until noon on Saturday, I was able to help outside and get my hands dirty. It was definitely what I needed. I only wish that I could've stayed longer to do more. Everywhere I looked, it seemed like something else needed to be done. I guess I've missed camp even more than I thought. It's like one of my homes away from home. Now I wish I hadn't let so many years go by before I went back, but that's another story.