Surprise from the Lord

      The last morning of the camp, a few hours before we were about to leave to go back to Cagayan de Oro, I realized that I couldn't find the money that my dad had given me. I looked everywhere in my bags and asked my tent mates if they had seen it. They both said no. I asked some of the staff members and they said maybe it fell out of my bag somewhere. I couldn't find it anywhere and we finally had to leave. One of the missionaries, Susanna, said that someone probably took it if I just left it lying around.

      I had never lost money before. I didn't believe that anyone took it. I thought I was just careless and should have been way more careful. Almost the whole bus ride home I felt really anxious.

     Towards the end, Theresa (a missionary) let me borrow a book called “He and i”. It's all about what God said to a lady. I read some and after awhile I came across this quote that God spoke to the woman, “Do not be anxious about things you can't fix. Offer it to me and I'll work it out.” I felt great peace come over me and I felt a lot better.

      A day later, our parents came to pick me and Meredith up to go back to Camiguin the following day. I felt anxious again and finally told them that I lost all the money dad had given me for the trip. It only equaled $20 but I felt like I was untrustworthy. They told me it was alright and I forgot about it for a little bit.

Later that night, I was taking something out of my bag. I was about to zip it up again when I felt the Lord say, “Reach in that spot and I'll give you a surprise.” I was doubtful at first but I'm so glad that I did reach my hand down in that spot.

      When I brought my hand out of the bag I was so surprised. I was staring at the 1,000 pesos Dad had given me before the camp!!! I could only stand and stare and say, “What??? What???” over and over. Then I reached into my backpack again and found a piece of my knitting project that I also thought I had lost and a bracelet that I couldn't find earlier. God really, really blessed me! I didn't even deserve it! It's very comforting to know that God is always watching over us no matter how small the problem is.--Maddie

My Goal

     Last week, Maddie and I attended a Catholic youth camp several hours away from Cagayan. We did many different activities. One of the challenges was for each team member to to shoot at least one basket each. I was one of the youngest persons in the whole camp and the youngest person in our team. After many tries, I still could not get the ball in the goal. Finally, a group of team members lifted me up so that I could reach better. Everyone crowded around to watch me.
     I tried all of the ideas I could think of to try to make a basketball goal. I kept trying but wanted to give up; the rest of the team didn't. They put me on someone's shoulders and all shouted, "Dunk it! Dunk it!" I was up so close that I just dropped the ball down the hoop. I was the last person to finish the activity.
     It was so embarrassing but I finally made it. I found this as an important lesson. Keep trying until you reach your goal: Heaven, no matter how long it takes to get there!