Not That Bad

Today we read Isaiah 29-31 and James 1.

They told the van driver where to park it.  As we got off, they told me to leave my stuff, pulled me to the side and sent me to a little building.  The paperwork was filed and was given some simple instructions.  I was brought back to my stuff and told to go to the barracks hall. Having been singled out, I was one of the last in the room.  The room was small, smelled of too many men in too small a space.  The beds were three high.  The tallest bed was right at 6 ft.  The bottom was maybe a foot off the ground.  The middle bunk hung between them like a book shelf with one too many adjustable shelves.  I claimed the middle bunk closest to the door, wondering if I would ever get my leg high enough in the air to get on the bed and my head low enough to do it successfully.

After claiming my spot, we lined up at the mess hall.  The slop of the night was pre-processed salad, spaghetti, and rolls.  Canned fruit cocktail adorned the dessert table...alone.  I ate down hoping that the 11:30 lights out time would have real meaning in that great barrack of men.

The first sign that things may be looking up was the spaghetti.  Better than your Ragu mix up...not bad...of course, I was hungry.  However, the yeast rolls were homemade and to die for. This may not be so bad.

At 11:00 I got back to BLDG 2, the barracks hall, and the guys I rode in with were all in bed, quiet, some of them asleep.  I dreamed of being able to get in the bed without pulling a hamstring and maybe getting some sleep.   This may not be so bad.

I sized up the bed.  The height of the mattress and the bottom of the top bunk that hung low atop.
I laughed, threw a leg up, reached over the mattress, grabbed the frame on the other side, and made it..uninjured...not even hitting my head.  It wasn't that bad.  I actually sleep here.  In a few minutes...I did.  This may not be so bad.

No, they have not finally locked me up.  I simply the group leader at a Centrifuge youth camp this week.  It is something that I have looked forward to...with fear and trembling...for months now.  Hey, this may not be so bad.

This week I will spend more time being quiet and listening.  James 1.19-20 is mighty appropriate for me.

James 1.19-20- Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Try it yourself, wherever you are today.  And have a good day...it is not that bad.