CWE Pre Camp Devo #7

2 Peter 1:5-6b

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;”

1 Timothy 6:3-6

“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.  But godliness with contentment is great gain.

“THE GIRL WITH THE CHEESE WHIZ TATTOO”

NOTE: The following devo contains information on conduct that is not tolerated at either Camp Ozark or Camp War Eagle. The example was from 1988, several years before most of you were even born.  The world was a different place then…much different.  Doing something like this today would write you a prompt one-way ticket back home, no questions asked. 

It was also the middle of the night.  She had probably not been asleep too long given her normal routine.  Indeed, after tucking in her cabin full of8-year-old little girls (including my daughter, Angela), after brushing their hair, after making sure they were comfortable with their favorite teddy bear, andperhaps most importantly, after ensuring they had all made one final trip to the bathroom, she would then sit out on her porch and visit with a group of other counselors who had probably just finished doing similar tasks.  As she slept, the door to her cabin quietly opened (no small feat since the hinges usually squeak like crazy) and two male figures crept in and kneeled beside her bed.  One of the figures took a piece of pre-cut duct tape and placed it over her mouth.  This startled her and initially her eyes opened wide, bright with fear.  After a moment, she recognized the faces of the intruders and,though probably not in total agreement, she at least recognized that she was not going to be harmed.  The two intruders then led her out onto the porch where they gently (???) placed her on a backboard they had confiscated from the waterfront and proceeded to duct tape her fully and completely to the backboard so that she could not move her arms or her legs.  They then carried the backboard to the center of the cabin square, removed the duct tape from her mouth and proceeded to squirt cheese whiz all over her face until her face was completely covered.  Then they went and sat on their porches and began to watch and wait.  For the previous couple of nights the two intruders had noticed that a stray dog had wandered through camp on occasion and their hope was that the mangy canine would again appear.  They were not disappointed.  Within just a few minutes, or so I am told, the dog wandered into the cabin square and immediately sensed the smell of the inviting cheese whiz.  It didn’t take the mutt too long to determine that the source of the scent was the girl ducttaped to the backboard.  Within seconds, the mangy, dirty, flea-riddled, stray dog was licking the delicious cheese whiz off the girl’s face.  She screamed, she laughed, she threatened, but it was not until every bit of the cheese whiz was gone that she was released.  The two male intruders who had instigated the whole shenanigan could not stop laughing or talking about the scene, and the victim, though not interested in a repeat performance, got a great laugh out of it as well, even though she vowed to get even. 

Her name was Michelle Mock, now Michelle Harrison.  Out of the thousands of young people that have served as counselors at Camp Ozark and Camp War Eagle in the past 28 summers, she stands way close to the front of the line.  Why?  Because, above all, she was and is one of the godliest human beings I have ever known.  It is important to note that in our scripture passage, Peter does not exhort or expect believers to be consistently godly until they have strived to make his previous exhortations a part of their character.  In order to be godly, Peter tells us, we must first settle the matter of our faith, then we must strive for goodness, and as we are doing so we must begin to accumulate knowledge from the scripture, all the while practicing self-control and perseverance.  All suchpractices are necessary components of a godly individual.

Michelle was and is a godly woman because she constantly seeks to be like Christ.  She constantly seeks to discern His will.  She constantly seeks to know His favor.  She constantly trusts enough to pray for others.  She constantly and confidently places the needs of others before herself.  Let me be clear, Michelle is absolutely no shrinking violet.  She is smart, tough, fun-loving, disciplined, and stubborn, also traits of godliness, I might add. (Oh, you don’t think pure-hearted stubbornness is godliness?  Read the New Testament.)  This summer you will have the opportunity to model godliness, or not.  You will have the opportunity to really respond to the overused question, “What would Jesus Do?”, or not. You will have the opportunity to pray faithfully for your kids, or not.  The goal of the believer is to become more like Christ.  The goal of the summer staffer is to show kids what it really means to be more like Christ. 

As for Michelle, she lives in Georgia now with her husband, Tim, and 3 great sons.  They are in full-time Christian, vocational ministry.  As far as I know, she bears no permanent emotional scars from that night long ago. And, as far as I know, she has not yet fulfilled her vow to get even.  If I were those two intruders I might still sleep with one eye open, though; that is unless they really like cheese whiz.