Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: PICNIC (07/14/22)
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TITLE: A Little Child Will Lead Them | Previous Challenge Entry
By Claudia Barrington
07/21/22 -
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Camilla ripped a page out of the notebook, folded it, put it in her pocket, and wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand. Her mother washed the streaks of salty water off her face before they hurried out the door. It was hot. Before they even got to the car, Mama had to wipe the sweat from her brow. It hadn’t rained in way too long.
Thirty minutes later Camilla sat with her daddy in the front row. Someone else stumbled over Paw Paw’s cane. Paw Paw was 90. Grandma had been 88.
A preacher man said some nice things while Camilla daydreamed. The daily picnics, the flowers they picked, the books they read...
When it was over, everyone got a plate of food and sat down at long tables. But Camilla took her plate outside and sat on the grass.
“Oh man, it’s too hot out today” daddy mumbled under his breath as he followed. He sat close to her. Mama came out too, then others. There they were, all sitting in a circle on the grass.
“You thinking about picnics with Grandma, Camilla?”
She shrugged. “Not really.”
“You’ll see her again in heaven”, Mama consoled as she fanned herself with a paper plate.
“I’m not thinking about Grandma.”
“Then what are you thinking about? Is it something you read in her notebook?”
Camilla sighed. “Did you know that one time when Grandma was reading her Bible in her car, she decided to pretend that all of us were in the car with her? And then she imagined all our spouses were in the car too. It got really crowded when she started inviting all the people she’d ever hurt and all those who had hurt her. Everyone piled on top of each other, and she saw each of us praying and reading the Word of God, and then she lifted her arms to sing to the Lord and imagined each of us also lifting our arms to the Lord. We were all singing “There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood…of the lamb. That song. And then a big transformer blew out right next to her car as we all sang this song together! For real! The whole sky lit up! Firetrucks had to come. Grandma thought that Jesus was coming back right then. It was so bright and so loud! Just because we were all worshiping God together.”
Now everyone got quiet and tried not to chuckle. Uncle Aaron wiped his sweaty face with his sleeve. “Yep, that sounds like your grandma. We’ll see her again. She’s with Jesus. It will be ok.”
Some of them realized they hadn’t thought about Jesus in a long time and wondered, “Will it be ok? Will I be ok? Hm.”
Ashton broke the silence. “So Camilla's thinking about 100 people in Grandma’s car worshiping God together. That’s pretty funny.”
“No”, she answered. “I’m thinking about a concert.”
Ashton stared at her. “A…concert? You’re thinking about a… concert?”
Camilla pulled the page from Grandma’s notebook out of her pocket. “Daddy, read this to everybody, OK?”
“Sure.” He unfolded it and read aloud:
April 22, 2022. Tonight, as we all worshiped him together, I saw Him sitting on a throne, like a stage, and He was so moved with love for us as He watched
Tonight, I had a prayer meeting, a worship gathering in my living room. I imagined all my family sitting with me, and I saw each face. Also with us were many others, including some people in the Bible. It was by faith. People like to sit around together and watch movies and TV. Well, we are made in God’s image. He likes to watch things too. We’re His creation. We’re His family, gathering around Him, our Creator. Tonight, as we all worshiped Him together, I saw Him sitting on a throne, like a stage. He watched and listened to us from the edge of His seat, overwhelmed by our love for Him. I wondered if it was OK that I imagined this on behalf of others. I asked, “If this is You Lord, tell us to come!” * And He says, “Yes and Amen! Come! Please come! Bring all of them!”
When Daddy finished reading, the expressions on their faces said “Aw, how sweet.” But one person started singing, and before you knew it, they were all singing... “There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb…. there is power, power, wonder-working power…”
As dark clouds began to block the scorching sun, Camilla lifted her arms and yelled out, “THIS is the concert! This is what I was thinking about!”
Grandma was jumping up and down as she watched over the ledge. He'd wanted her to watch it with Him. He said, “They’ll all be here soon. Let's place the blankets in the meadow, gather their favorite foods, and pick the flowers for Camilla." Then Jesus Breathed on them.
Back at the unofficial picnic, it was happening so fast that Paw Paw dropped his cane and ran with everyone else. Cups and napkins did flips across the lawn faster than they could catch them. Camilla ran ahead when the first bolt of lightning lit the sky like a spotlight. The thunder clapped. And big drops of water splashed onto their faces as they hurried towards the door. **
*Matthew 14:28
** John 10:9
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