I was 15 that summer. I had worked as a camp counselor at a Bible Camp for a couple of months. I had a new cabin full of 10-11 year old girls every week. Looking back, I remember long days of swimming, hiking and volleyball that ended in a bonfire every night. We sang with energy that could only be explained by the steady flow of s'mores.
My folks wanted me to come home early to help them, which mostly just meant watching the kids while mom shopped for back-to-school and then, helping her and the little kids get everything organized.
Most evenings, I went with my friends to another camp a half hour north of us. It was a retreat camp for families. They had old time revival meetings every night. I liked listening to the preaching but my favorite part was the music.
I had grown up in the Lutheran Church where the services were formal and reserved. The old hymns were all we sang, but at the retreat camp, they sang about Jesus the way people sing about love and when they prayed, they didn't just read a prayer out of a book. They talked to God the way I'd talk to you, like they were having a conversation and they knew God would hold up his part of the conversation by answering.
The tabernacle was a huge log A-Frame with two floors. It was built into a hill. The meeting place was on ground level and there was a big cafeteria in the basement. It wasn't anything special ... just a plain building in the middle of the woods, but when the services started, it was God's House. You could feel electricity in the air.
People spoke in tongues. I'd never heard that before. In fact, the first time I heard it, it scared me! I got over being scared. I still didn't know what to think though, so I watched the people around me. I was so curious, I even prayed with my eyes open, anxious to see what would happen next! People I had grown up with, acted different in that tabernacle in the woods, and I really didn't understand, but I wanted to, so I watched.
One night, during the praise part of the service, a man stood up and read from the Second Chapter of Acts:
The tabernacle was a huge log A-Frame with two floors. It was built into a hill. The meeting place was on ground level and there was a big cafeteria in the basement. It wasn't anything special ... just a plain building in the middle of the woods, but when the services started, it was God's House. You could feel electricity in the air.
People spoke in tongues. I'd never heard that before. In fact, the first time I heard it, it scared me! I got over being scared. I still didn't know what to think though, so I watched the people around me. I was so curious, I even prayed with my eyes open, anxious to see what would happen next! People I had grown up with, acted different in that tabernacle in the woods, and I really didn't understand, but I wanted to, so I watched.
One night, during the praise part of the service, a man stood up and read from the Second Chapter of Acts:
And it shall be in the last days, God says,
That I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams ...
I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit ...
I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit ...
And I will grant wonders in the sky above,
And signs on the earth beneath ...
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
I watched as the words flowed over the people in the room, like a wave.
I don't remember what the speaker talked about, but I do remember that signs and wonders in the sky was a recurring theme. The service ended and we began to file out of the building but as people walked out the door, we heard gasping and "Praise the Lord" and "Oh my goodness" and one man said, "Surely, on this night, God is making His presence known". We hurried outside, anxious to see what all the excitement was about ...
The sky was alive with bright, dancing northern lights! They weren't the typical blue or green, but bright red! Instead of just being in the Northern half of the sky, they were all around us! They seemed to be coming from directly above us, like water being drizzled over an invisible dome in the sky!
I don't know what anyone else was thinking at that moment. I heard a few people whispering, a few praying and from somewhere, I heard faint music but I was completely mesmerized by the lights in the sky. They felt personal. They felt like a love letter from God Almighty. It was red like the blood of Jesus, and it was alive and flowing over everything I could see, from one horizon to the other. I have no idea how long I stood there, looking up, but when my neck got tired, I went and leaned against a big rock and kept watching the sky.
I have always loved LIGHT ... LIGHT speaks to me. LIGHT inspires me. I like watching LIGHT dance in the shadows of leaves. I like the way LIGHT plays in the waves and sparkles in the snow. I like the way LIGHT photographs. I like the way those big candle power beams announce grand openings. I like sparks of LIGHT in fireworks. I like seeing the LIGHT of sunrise or sunset on someone's face.
My kid's great - great grandfather wrote a poem about LIGHT ...
God Said Let Their Be Light
When our way leads through the shadow
Let us always bear in mind
That the shadow owes it's being
To the light that shines behind.
When whatever shade beclouds us,
We may feel that all is right
Indubitably knowing
That the shadow proves the light.
I had never seen a sky like that before or since, but many times, when I have faced a really tough challenge or carried an especially heavy burden, I'd think about the night that God filled the sky with signs and wonders, and know that everything is going to be all right.
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
I watched as the words flowed over the people in the room, like a wave.
I don't remember what the speaker talked about, but I do remember that signs and wonders in the sky was a recurring theme. The service ended and we began to file out of the building but as people walked out the door, we heard gasping and "Praise the Lord" and "Oh my goodness" and one man said, "Surely, on this night, God is making His presence known". We hurried outside, anxious to see what all the excitement was about ...
The sky was alive with bright, dancing northern lights! They weren't the typical blue or green, but bright red! Instead of just being in the Northern half of the sky, they were all around us! They seemed to be coming from directly above us, like water being drizzled over an invisible dome in the sky!
I don't know what anyone else was thinking at that moment. I heard a few people whispering, a few praying and from somewhere, I heard faint music but I was completely mesmerized by the lights in the sky. They felt personal. They felt like a love letter from God Almighty. It was red like the blood of Jesus, and it was alive and flowing over everything I could see, from one horizon to the other. I have no idea how long I stood there, looking up, but when my neck got tired, I went and leaned against a big rock and kept watching the sky.
I have always loved LIGHT ... LIGHT speaks to me. LIGHT inspires me. I like watching LIGHT dance in the shadows of leaves. I like the way LIGHT plays in the waves and sparkles in the snow. I like the way LIGHT photographs. I like the way those big candle power beams announce grand openings. I like sparks of LIGHT in fireworks. I like seeing the LIGHT of sunrise or sunset on someone's face.
My kid's great - great grandfather wrote a poem about LIGHT ...
God Said Let Their Be Light
When our way leads through the shadow
Let us always bear in mind
That the shadow owes it's being
To the light that shines behind.
When whatever shade beclouds us,
We may feel that all is right
Indubitably knowing
That the shadow proves the light.
I had never seen a sky like that before or since, but many times, when I have faced a really tough challenge or carried an especially heavy burden, I'd think about the night that God filled the sky with signs and wonders, and know that everything is going to be all right.
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