I was recently blessed with two chicken nuggets: Cara and Ashley. The two nuts kept me running in circles all week. It was the best. Cara loved being silly and sassy; Ashley loved being sassy and tricky, and I love to be silly, sassy, and tricky. So one night while everyone is getting ready for bed, I am reading my Bible and Ashley comes out of the shower and decides that she wants to sit down. The only okay place was next to me (because she couldn’t outright admit she wanted to sit with me) and asked me what I was doing. I told her and asked her if she wanted to join.
“Sure, I guess,” She said. “That means, yes.”
So I told her I was reading about Elisha. As I was talking I started trying to figure out what she knew. I found out she had never heard of King David so I decided that he was a good place to start. We talked about David, Solomon, Israel, Elijah, and Elisha. By the end, all four girls were sitting around listening.
The next night, I told the story of Queen Ester. This time, Ashley pouted in her bed and hid under her covers while I told the story. The next morning, I had trouble getting her out of bed. Then it came time for our nap. We walked to our cabin and she ran to her bed and pulled her Bible out from her sheets then came running to me.
“I tricked you,” Ashley proudly announced.
When I asked her how, she said, “I was reading with you. And I remembered you said the King was in 2 Samuel.” She pointed excitedly to her page. She had found 2 Samuel in her Bible and was trying to find the story of King David. She confessed it was only half a trick because she didn’t know which chapter, so she let me find her place and kept reading for the rest of the week.
Full of new hope and joy, I asked her if I could say bedtime prayers with her that night (she had yet to let me do more than sit next to her bed and happen to pray for her). She agreed. I almost wet myself I was so excited. As soon as I closed my eyes, I was whacked with a pillow. It did not stop until the prayer stopped.
The next morning, I was less than enthused. We had a quiet morning and went to breakfast and as I am sitting there I hear her turn to her imaginary friend and say, “Do you remember when our counselor prayed with us last night?….yeah, that was cool.”
I don’t think I have ever been more confused or hopeful in my life. Both of these chicken nuggets were so hungry for someone to talk to them about God. Enough to search through a big old book under sheets and allow the counselor who isn’t supposed to know you like them to pray with you.
