An Old Deleted Scene, and How It Relates To Today.

    So, I've been going through some old blog posts, and I found this one from Aug. 4th, 2016. While this is an unedited scene, and I never used it, reading through it, was really funny this week, because it related to my work at camp.

    Sometimes, when we're working with people, it's easy to get distracted with fighting fights that don't matter. Like trying to defend ourselves in arguments, or trying to convince everyone that we're right, when really, the only things worth fighting for, are the fights of the faith. Whether it's your family, your church family, or other people you find yourself around, we're not here to prove ourselves right! If our only goal, is to be right and for everyone to know it, then we've got messed up priorities. We're here to show the love of Christ, not show how right we are.

A Deleted Scene

        When I'm writing, sometimes I writes scenes that don't flow right, or just don't fit with the story so I have to cut them. The following scene was deleted from Never Forget because it just didn't seem to fit right. I hope you enjoy it!


     That evening, Paul needed to go to town and buy some things for the farm, and I decided to go with him. I didn’t think I could stand another minute of just sitting in the house. I couldn’t figure out what God was doing. Did He expect me to wait for the rest of my life for things to get better?

My leg hurt after the long day, so I grabbed my other crutch, and followed Paul to Dad’s truck.

Paul was totally quiet as we drove to town, and I felt glad. I didn’t want to talk either.

Rifton is five miles south of the Canadian border, and almost five miles south of us. Our farm was practically on the border, and several times Dad had pointed the line out to me so that I wouldn’t accidentally wander across illegally.

I enjoyed sitting and looking into Canada but sometimes, like today, I wished we could just move to Canada and start over. Things had gone from bad to worse and I was losing heart. I had been waiting on God for weeks and nothing had happened.

I followed Paul around the store as he looked for the best deals and stood patiently as he added things up in his head.

“Nice crutches!” a crude voice said. “They’re just perfect for a cripple like you.”

I turned around and found myself face to face with a guy not much older than myself. Although I could tell he wasn’t very old, he was stocky and didn’t look like he avoided fights. He also didn’t look like he lost many fights.

I turned back to the shelf expecting him to walk away. Instead he reached out and pulled my hair.

“Oww!” I spun around as fast as I could on my crutches.

“What ya gonna do, huh? Your daddy’s in jail, he can’t rescue you.”

Paul calmly stepped in front of me. “Leave,” he said simply.

“Well, if it isn’t the mute boy actually talking. I hear you don’t talk cause you got a stttttuuutttterrrrrrr,” the boy mocked. “And isn’t your sister the girl with that creepy white hair?”

Paul simply grabbed my arm and started walking away.

“What are you chicken or something?” he yelled after us.

I stopped and turned to face him. “Stop it!” I said.

“Aww, isn’t that sweet, you’re trying to protect your brother.”

“My brother can protect himself,” I said firmly, “but he doesn’t pick fights with losers like you.”

“Amy,” Paul’s voice came firm and low. “That’s enough.”

The boy stuck his tongue out at me and I started to pull my crutch up to hit him but Paul pulled me back. “Let’s go.”

The boy yelled insulting comments after us but Paul didn’t stop. He walked straight for the cashier counter, purchased his items, and we went back to the truck.

“Why didn’t you fight him?” I asked. “If I were a boy I would have punched his lights out.” I bit my lip the moment I said it. It sounded like something Sylvia would say and I regretted sounding so harsh.

“It wasn’t a fight worth fighting,” Paul said.

I stared at Paul. “Doesn’t it make you mad when people make fun of you?”

Paul nodded. “Sometimes, but it’s not worth fighting over.”

Paul drove

north and headed home.

“How do you stay so calm?” I asked. “You’re always calm!”

 We were halfway home before Paul spoke. “Amy, I used to get mad when people made fun of my stutter, but then I realized that they just didn’t understand. It’s not my job to force people to understand. It’s my job to love people. It’s my job to be like Jesus. It’s my job to turn the other cheek.”

Like normal, Paul only said what he felt he had to and then he lapsed back into silence.

“Paul?” I paused and chewed on my bottom lip. “What exactly is worth fighting for? You said it wasn’t a fight worth fighting but what kinds of fights are worth fighting?”

Paul stared across the fields that rolled by. Finally he spoke. “The only fights worth fighting are the fights of faith.”

I frowned. “Like what?”

“Like when you believe in something. It’s always worth fighting for the things you believe in.”

Paul was silent again, and I sat thinking. Was I fighting any fights of faith? What did I believe in?

The Grace Award!

  A HUGE thank you, to everyone that nominated Mission of a Lifetime for the Grace Award! It's received a finalist badge!

My Miracle Dad

When I think about Father's Day, I feel like taking Ebeneezer Scrooge's change of heart, and applying it to Father's Day. "I shall strive to live with the spirit of Father's Day in my heart year round."

I've shared my mom's story, and how she is a miracle mom, but just as much as my mom is a miracle mom, my dad, is a miracle dad.

Everyone has dreams and plans, but sometimes, God's plans don't match up with ours, and then we have to choose whether to live our dreams, or God's. When my Dad was in high-school, he knew where his life was going.

He was going to go into professional hockey. As a sophomore, he had scouts looking at him, and he knew that God had gifted him in a big way. Then, one day, his dad approached him, and told him that his sisters would be attending a Christian school the following year. Grandpa gave Dad the choice. He could stay in the public school, and become a professional hockey player, or he could attend the Christian school, and give up his dreams.

Sometimes, we have to take a leap of faith, and trust God to work it out for His glory. Dad chose to give up his dreams. He could have been a famous hockey celebrity, but he chose to follow God's leading. When we trust God, He never lets us down. Dad went on to Bible college, and has used everything God has given him to glorify God. Even his mistakes, he's used to teach us, and to help us learn to lean on God more.

God took his dreams, and replaced them with new dreams and ministry opportunities. God has used him to share the gospel with countless people. Whether it was in his prison ministry, his work related ministries, or his family ministry to us kids, he has always been an example to me of how a Christian should be.

He always had time to teach us kids about God's goodness in his life, and how we can share Christ with others.

Thank you, Dad, for being willing to let God have his way in your life. Thank you for using the talents you have to glorify God. Thank you for the sacrifices you've made for us. Thank you for showing us Christ in your life. I love you, and I will always respect the way you glorify God in your life.

The Camp Store

I've had the opportunity to work in the camp store and snack shop, and I really enjoy it! 

 I have an awesome crew to work with, and if you ever stop by, be sure to stop in and get a treat!

Also, my books are for sale in the camp store, so if there's one that you'd like to pick up, and you're in northern WI, I'd love to see you! 

This last week was a family camp, and watching the families brings back so many memories from when I was a young and we came here for family camp. I had no idea that one day, I would be working here! 

Week one - Staff Training

    For those of you who don't know, last Saturday, Hosanna and I headed to WI to work at Northland Camp. We spent this first week in 'staff training', which covers everything from sessions on learning to counsel, work projects around the place, preparing our own hearts for the ministry, and getting to know the staff.
     So much has happened, that it's hard to think of what to say, but I'll try to pick out the highlights.
       ONE - It's been AWESOME getting to know my fellow staff members. There's been campfire services, and late night talks that have both encouraged me, and convicted me.
       TWO - Instead of counseling this year, I'm working on the housekeeping/retail side of things, and I've REALLY enjoyed getting to learn the ropes.
       THREE - This afternoon, we got to do the ziplines and rock climbing. Sadly, I did't get any pictures, but I had a great time! :)
       FOUR - The messages. When you go into a ministry, it's easy to want to focus on helping others, which is GREAT! But it's important to also take the time to make sure that your heart is right with God, and that you're right with God before trying to help others. You can't help someone out of the chains of sin when you're chained yourself.
     FIVE - We played an AWESOME night game!!! :) :)

This is what my room looks like when I'm packing for the whole summer.

On another note, the Corn Maze is getting prepared, and this AWESOME sign will be for sale in the Granary. It seems like the story of my life sometimes!

   I apologize for not having pictures from camp yet, maybe next week I'll have some. :) Just a reminder, if I DON'T post some week, it doesn't mean I died! It probably just means that I'm having technical difficulties. Anyways, till next time, this is Priscilla J. Krahn, reminding you not to hold anything back while serving God.

      "Live to the hilt, every situation that you find yourself in that you believe is the will of God." - Jim Elliot

I'm Leaving Again.

   As many of you know, I'm going back to work at Northland Camp again this summer. Last spring, before I left, I wrote up blog posts for the summer, so that even if I didn't get a chance to go online, I could still have a blog post come out every week. Well, I didn't do that this year. So, while I still intend to post once a week, even from camp, there are several things that could stop it.
      One - there isn't much internet connection at camp, and I'm normally only able to use it on the weekends. Two - Sometimes, my weekends are too busy to write blog posts. Three - Well, I don't have a third reason, but something could come up and keep me from posting.
      So, basically, I'll be trying to post every Saturday or Sunday, but if I don't . . . I ask for forgiveness in advance. For those of you who've worked at camps, you know how crazy it can be!

       The main things I'd like prayer for are, safety for everyone there, health among us staff, and God's will to be done. Hopefully, we'll see many young people come to Christ through this ministry, and that there will be much spiritual growth. I appreciate your prayers for my sister and I as we help out.

      Also, if you would like to pray for safe travels as Hosanna and I drive out there, that would be great!

       
        This picture is from my trip to SD. My cousin was driving, and we're going along the interstate at a normal speed, and I look at his speedometer and  . . .
 

Either he's spent too much time in Canada, or he was trying to scare me, but it took me a while to figure out that he'd switched the car to kilometers instead of miles per hour!!! I thought the speedometer was broken!

NANO re-cap.

  For those of you who are wondering how April NANO camp finished up, here are my stats.

GOAL - 50,000 words.
WORD COUNT AT THE END - 31,577 words.

So, no, I didn't finish. I had 18,423 words left to write. This was a little bit frustrating for me because I hate it when I don't make deadlines. But I have to remind myself that a year from now, I'm not going to care if I finished it or not. Sure, finishing a book in a month would be awesome, but sometimes, life happens, and we have to remember to keep the important things first. 

I leave NEXT Saturday for camp, and I won't return until Fall. I'm still unsure of which book I'll be working on next Fall, but I may go back and finish writing, The Secret In The Steeple, or I may work on something else. We'll see, but I do plan on finishing it someday.

Until next time, this is Priscilla J. Krahn, reminding you to stay thankful in ALL things!

Write Hard and Pray Harder!: A Miracle Mom . . .

I know that I shared this story last year, but in honor of my AMAZING Mom on Mother's Day, I'd like to share this post again.

     Write Hard and Pray Harder!: A Miracle Mom . . .:         Every mother makes sacrifices. But some mother’s go through more than others. This is the story of one of those mothers.       The...

Last Week

I had a lot of fun going out with a friend, and then spending the afternoon with our church ladies at the Mother's Day Tea.

Sunday evening some of our church's young people did a music recital, and I had the opportunity to play. At first, I didn't want to, but I'm glad I did. With MANY people around me who are better on the piano, I don't very often play in front of people and I always get SO nervous. The crazy thing is, I don't even know why I'm nervous! I mean the worst thing that could happen, is that I could mess up, burst into tears and fall off the piano bench, but no matter how traumatic it could be, I'd probably look back at it and laugh. 

Anyways, Hosanna told me I was nervous because I haven't done it very much, and if I'd do it more, I would stop being nervous. While I'm sure that's true about my piano playing, I find it's ESPECIALLY true for sharing the gospel. When we haven't been sharing the gospel, we tend to get nervous about approaching people, but if we do it more, and rely on God for strength, it gets easier.

I always find it funny looking at pictures of me from when I was playing piano because I make the most ridiculous faces while I play! Sometimes I look mad, sometimes I look like I'm about to cry, and other times I look nearly asleep. This is actually one of the least embarrassing faces I've ever made while playing piano.

After the recital, Grandpa spoke a few words about doing things for the glory of God. Sometimes we think we have to wait till we're good at something in order to do it for God's glory, but even when we're not very 'accomplished' at a thing, God can still be glorified, if we choose to give Him the glory.

This weekend, I'll be attending the SD Homeschool convention, and if you think of it, I'd appreciate prayer for safe travels, and that we'd be able to be a blessing to the people we come in contact with.

Ministry Training

A few of them aren't in the picture, but this is most of my nieces and nephews. They're an AWESOME bunch, and I enjoy being the 'Crazy Aunt' or 'Auntie Silly,' as they call me.

This last weekend, we had ministry training. Basically, it's two days of training for VBS, our church's fair ministry, and sharing the gospel. We had a great group, and had a lot of fun. The theme was from Ephesians 6, with the armor of God.

We also did a bunch of 'one-on-one practice'. Here, I'm playing the part of an unsaved kid who wants to get saved, and Matt is showing me how to get saved.

In addition to all the basic 'sharing the gospel' training, we also were encouraged by hearing different people's testimonies, and some challenging devotionals about applying the armor of God.

The Bible says to  "Be ready ALWAYS to give an answer . . ." Are you prepared? If someone stopped you on the street and asked you why you're different, would you be able to share the gospel with them? Would they even notice a difference in you?

I commented to one of my cousins about how he didn't eat as much now that he is done growing. For the first time, it made sense to me why sometimes we quit growing spiritually, it's for the same reason, we stop growing physically. When we're growing, either physically, or spiritually, we're hungry. When we're not hungry for the Word of God, we quit growing spiritually. Whenever you catch yourself losing your appetite for the things of God, make sure you take the time to dig back in so that you can keep growing. It's been said . . . "The more you read the Word of God, the more you want to read it, and the less you read it, the less you want to read it." Let's make sure we're reading it more, and keeping our spiritual appetite strong so we can grow in Christ.