My husband and I were blessed to serve as chaplains for the summer in a local state park a few years ago. I was a former teacher and library media specialist, and I often struggled with feeling equipped for the task. As a teacher, one area I felt equipped to handle was our version of vacation Bible school or day camp. One day, when I arrived for a new week of day camp, a young girl arrived early. She was very excited about “Bible camp,” as she called it. She very quickly informed me that her 15-year-old brother would not be joining us because he was a “Wiccan” and didn’t believe in God like she did.
   My mind went into panic mode, and I immediately started praying that the Lord would give me the right words to say. She chatted away as I inwardly prayed. Then who should show up but her brother, Donovan? Donovan let me know that he could not stay because he was Wiccan. I said okay but steadily prayed for something—anything— to say, but my mind was an absolute blank. He asked if I needed any help setting up. I said sure and gave him some jobs to do. Again, like a broken record, I prayed for the right words, but I was speechless. After about 5–10 minutes, Donovan said, “You aren’t like those other people”. I said, “Oh, what do you mean”? He said, “Well, they always preached at me, but you are not. If you’re not going to preach at me, I might be able to stay.”
   WOW! When God doesn’t give you something to say, maybe He just wants you to be quiet.Â
   So, he stayed that day and every day for a week. He would sit in the back at a picnic table in a meditation pose while I did the lesson. Sometimes he would hum, but sometimes he would answer a question I posed to the rest of the group.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10)
   One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 46:10. That day I learned that being still might also look like being quiet and letting the God of the universe be exalted above all. Maybe God is answering your earnest prayer for guidance and “words to say” in the silence of listening and waiting.
   Whether the faith of a little sister or seeds planted at beach Bible school took root and grew a fruitful tree is not for me to know right now. I am only to be still.
Carole McGraff
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Carole grew up in the South Carolina Lowcountry and was raised in church but did not read the bible through for the first time until 2019. In 2021 she found Seeking Scripture through a friend and has been reading along with the Porch Family ever since. Carole loves the beach, sea turtles, art, Bible journaling, her friends, her two pups Willow and Zoe, her family, and most of all YHWH.
Carole and her late husband Brian were blessed to serve as campground summer chaplains at Hunting Island State Park for 5 years where she learned that if God calls you to it, he will equip you for it. Carole enjoys sharing her love of bible journaling and all the mighty ways God has worked and is working in her life.
- A Time To Be Quiet - August 27, 2023
- Looking But Not Seeing - August 18, 2023
- Stuffing or Bursting - July 30, 2023
