Day three (Saturday, May 23) of my middle school juggling troupe's ministry trip to Burlington, Vermont, was the most unique day of the trip. We did not have any actual shows that day. We started the day in the Essex Junction Memorial Day parade, and finished the day by visiting a very special friend.
The parade we were in is the largest parade in Vermont each year. Not just the largest Memorial Day parade, the largest parade period. We arrived in Essex Junction in plenty of time, and dropped off three of the chaperones and Zeb along the parade route. Zeb was injured the day before in a balance board accident, so had to sit out the parade. My teaching assistant, Amanda, and I brought the kids into the fairgrounds for lineup. Unfortunately, I brought them in the wrong gate, and the fairgrounds has changed a lot since I was a kid growing up in Essex Junction. There was a fence between us and where we were supposed to go for lineup. Instead of going all the way around to the proper gate, like any good group of tweens and teens, it was decided we'd climb the fence or crawl under in a spot where the fence didn't quite go all the way to the ground. Brushing off dirt from our clothes, we continued to the parade lineup without further mishap. In hindsight, though, a group of kids 'sneaking' into a Memorial Day parade carrying machetes, torches and clubs must have looked at least a little alarming to anyone who may have noticed.
Much to the chagrin of Zeb, and the joy of the other boys in the class, we were positioned directly behind Miss Vermont in this year's parade. Adam could barely be contained, so, acting as his wingman, I brought him over to meet her, and soon the whole class joined us. The next day, a picture of our class was Miss Vermont's facebook photo. There was also a group of aerobics dancers lined up adjacent to us, and before long, the entire class was dancing, too. Judah had clearly been holding out on us; the boy has some moves!
The parade itself was a success, as Molly and Abby stunned the crowd with fire devil sticks and Abbee, JK and Rose wowed them with a combination of machetes and torches. The funniest reactions, though, were how many times people commented on Rachel's mastery of the three toilet plunger cascade. Again this year, I was called over to the sidelines briefly when Dave and Diane Desautels, my next door neighbors when I was a kid, recognized me as we passed by. By the end of the parade we were exhausted, but pleased with our performance. And we were ore than ready for our picnic lunch. But that was just the beginning of an amazing day.
After the picnic, which was at the park where I spent many childhood hours shooting hoop, we got in our vans and headed to the little town of Tunbridge, Vermont. We went to spend the day with Sue Thomas. Sue was the first profoundly deaf FBI agent who was hired for her ability to read lips. Her story was the inspiration for the show "Sue Thomas, FBEye" which ran for three seasons in the early 2000's. The real Sue Thomas is building a retreat center in the Green Mountains. A devote Mennonite, who, due to both her hearing loss and MS lives with a full time care giver.
When we arrived at Waterbrooks, the first thing Sue had us do was some weeding and brush clearing. Then I pulled the team together for a chapel time in what Sue calls 'the Master's Garden". A work team from my home church in Bridgton was also there that weekend and they joined us for the service as well. Throughout the trip, I talked to the kids about listening to God, and how prayer is more than coming to him with a list of requests. So, after some singing and sharing time, I told the kids it was there time to listen. They spread out around the pond and gardens, some with their Bibles, but all by themselves. This was the start of a moment that is, simply put, beyond words. The Holy Spirit began 'speaking' to individual hearts. I don't want to share any specifics about this here, as some of my readers may know who I'm referring to, but suffice it to say, kids who have struggled with low self esteem, insecurities, fears, and all the typical early teen stuff, began to realize how precious they are in the heart of God. Not just the drama queens, either. Every guy in the class encountered God; some were in tears. It was beautiful. When it was time for a cookout, all none of the kids left their spot where they were praying. Even for the teenage boys, the food could wait. They were in the presence of God.
After we all finally ate, some of the kids shared with Sue Thomas what they experienced that day. Then Sue spoke to them. She told of how a pastor asked her if she thought she would live to see her retreat center become her dream of a quiet place to listen to God. She told him, "No, I don't think I will. David didn't see the Temple completed; Moses didn't enter the promised land. " But, Sue continued, our time with her (the first service ever in the Master's Garden) and seeing the kids being open to God gave her a glimpse of what her dream will become.
We have been back in Maine for a week now, and that moment in the mountains of Vermont is a point we've come back to repeatedly as we've reflected upon God's love for us.
PICTURES FROM THE MASTER'S GARDEN
Read about Sue Thomas here:
https://suethomasministries.wordpress.com/