God Provides the Increase

Picture this: 6 teens, twenty open jars of paint, saws, boiling water on stove to make papier-mache, wire cutters, and matt knives. I was in the other room, trying not to scream while drawing a dog portrait for a friend. I intervened as infrequently as possible- like when I saw a balloon volleyball game initiated in the room with the twenty open jars of paints. And when they started a mock saber fight with a PVC pipe.

They could not pay me enough for this job...
oh yeah....I'm not getting paid at all.

I wonder why there is such a dearth of Destination Imagination managers in NC....?

"How do we make a mask with papier-mache if we can't form it over someone's face?" one kid asked me.
"I am not allowed to tell you that," I told him, "But I can teach you general skills about papier-mache if you like."
"Are you sure we can't form it over Ben's face?" he asked.
"Yes," I assured him, "I am sure."

Etc., Etc.

But don't let me dissuade you from managing a DI team.
I am told that years from now, after the kids get over hating me, they will thank me.
They will understand when they are adults how I gave up my home and my sanity for them. They will see that I provided a safe place for them to learn how to solve problems without adults telling them how. They will one day appreciate why I didn't want them to use the large piece of windshield glass as a shield while they practiced karate chops, or wrap the chain around their friend's neck and pull....

Some people go to distant lands to spread the love of God and I am grateful that they do so. I try in my limited way to do it here, with teens and paint and saws and rules they find restricting. I know it is a little thing in a small corner of the world, but I am hoping and praying that my home will be remembered one day as a place where young minds blossomed and learned. I pray that one day those teens will forgive me for the rules that they felt limited their fun, and will understand how much I longed for their futures to be brightened and shaped by my surrendering my living room and sunroom to their sometimes careless hands. It is a small offering. Still, I pray God will find a way to provide the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:6-11 (NIV)
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. [7] So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. [8] The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. [9] For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. [10] By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. [11] For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.



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