The kids did not come to Nature Camp for two days because of the weather! Storm after storm had gone through the area and everyone stayed home. The tornado warning sirens had gone off three times during the last night, and no one had gotten much sleep! The people were grateful that none of the tornados had touched the ground.
The next morning the storms were gone, and the sun was out again. The very sleepy children got on the bus and came to the farm. Joe was standing by the 4-wheeler with his crutches. He had already loaded dry firewood into the trailer behind the 4-wheeler. Joe told the kids that he was going to take them on a picnic. Joe told the kids to take the main trail and go to the big hill beside the river, and he would meet them there.
Haley led the group down the trail. She had not slept well, and she was very tired. She had forgotten to comb her hair, and it was sticking out in every direction. The rest of the kids were just as tired as Haley, and they stumbled down the trail grumbling about how tired they were, and how much they wanted to go to bed. Haley was so tired that she walked all the way to the big hill without falling or having any kind of accident! The kids were trudging down the trail, and Joe passed them on the 4-wheeler and started to set up the picnic on top of the big hill.
The kids finally arrived at the hill, and they collapsed onto the ground and fell asleep. Even Daniel the raccoon fell asleep laying on Haley’s stomach! Meanwhile, Joe laid blankets on the ground and set out plastic plates and spoons. He built a fire ring with stones that he had brought in the trailer. Joe drove the 4-wheeler down to the river and filled several buckets with water, and then built a fire in the fire ring. When the fire was burning well, Joe put a grate over the fire and began cooking hotdogs and hamburgers.
When the kids smelled the cooking food, they began to wake up. They did not have the energy to get up, so they lay on the hill and watched the sky above them. There were two huge birds flying very high in the sky. Joe had binoculars and used them to look at the birds and then told the kids that the birds were bald eagles. Joe let the kids take turns looking through the binoculars. These huge birds were so graceful as they soared effortlessly on the air currents. The kids thought they would never get tired of watching those magnificent eagles, but all too soon Joe announced that it was time to eat!
The kids dragged themselves over to the blankets and after Joe prayed for the meal they began to eat. They were so tired that it was even hard to eat! Haley looked around at all that Joe had done for them and said, “You were up with me almost all night during the storms, why aren’t you tired like the rest of us. We can barely move, and you have done all of this for us, and you cannot even walk without your crutches! How do you do it?”
Joe said that the answer is in the Bible and that eagles were a part of it! This got the kids’ attention and they managed to stay awake long enough to listen to Joe.
Joe told the kids that he had been up most of the night because of the storms, and he was very tired. When the storms finally left the area, Joe went to bed about 4:00 in the morning. He set his alarm clock for 6:00, just two hours later. The kids wanted to know why he set his alarm so early, why didn’t he sleep as long as possible like they had? Joe told them that he always gets up at 6:00 so that he can spend time with God before he starts his day. Joe told the kids that he was so tired this morning that he read one of his favorite verses again.
Joe opened his Bible to Isaiah 40:29-31 and read these verses to the kids:
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
Joe looked up at the bald eagles that were still soaring overhead and told the kids that when he depends on God for strength, he feels as strong and as free as those eagles in the sky!
Joe told the kids that he always tries to put God first by spending time with God every morning reading his Bible and praying! Joe said that on his own, he would not have enough strength to make it through the day, but God always provides the strength that is needed for each day. Joe told the kids that in the Bible the Apostle Paul mentions that he had some kind of physical handicap or weakness. Paul does not tell us what the weakness was, but he tells us how he lived with it.
In the Bible in II Corinthians 12:8-9 Paul says:
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Joe told the kids that having crippled legs is a blessing because it forces him to trust God every day to provide the strength to get through the day. Joe gets up early every day, even when he is tired, so that he can spend time with God because he knows that God is the one who will give him the strength to get through that day. Joe told the kids that they should also develop the habit of spending time with God every day and getting to know Him better because God is also their source of strength to deal with anything that comes into their life!