{"id":2641,"date":"2012-05-29T18:15:40","date_gmt":"2012-05-29T22:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2641"},"modified":"2012-05-29T18:15:40","modified_gmt":"2012-05-29T22:15:40","slug":"making-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/05\/making-do.html","title":{"rendered":"Making do"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It was the annual gathering of Special Gathering members. \u00a0Each year nearly 200 mentally challenged people meet in Vero Beach at Life for Youth Camp for Retreat Agape. \u00a0For almost 30 years, we have met there from Friday morning until Monday morning each Memorial Day weekend. \u00a0It’s a gloriously fun place for our members who are intellectually disabled. \u00a0There are water-slides, a lake for boating and swimming, go-carts, putt-putt golf, a game room, crafts, bingo and a petting zoo. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our morning and evening chapel services are as loud and roudy as a spiritual retreat is supposed to be. \u00a0Yet, there is a great deal of love shared as the members of Special Gathering reconnect with people from other cities. \u00a0Christ’s love flows freely as we praise and worship the Lord, ministering to each other. \u00a0This year, powerful things were accomplished during our chapel services. \u00a0We know that because the enemy of our soul was busy causing disruptions and distractions. \u00a0The overhead projector went out just as we began our Saturday night service and one member became agitated and headed out the campgrounds, planning to walk home which is 75 miles away. \u00a0The air conditioner went out for the Sunday morning service; and there was a huge thunderstorm at the climax of the Sunday night worship.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The climax of Retreat Agape is always our Sunday evening worship service. \u00a0We end this service with the Lord’s Supper. \u00a0Yet, as the thunder began to roar violently overhead, fear raced through the members with squeals and moans of concerns. \u00a0We had to end our service abruptly, giving the bedtime medications in the chapel. \u00a0Then we raced to the cabins sharing umbrellas and raincoats.<\/p>\n

A pastor of a local church who was volunteering had agreed to help us with the Lord’s Supper. \u00a0He looked at me inquisitively, “What happened? \u00a0We aren’t having the Lord’s Supper?”<\/p>\n

“Flexibility is the key to doing ministry within the disability community,” I said to him, laughing. \u00a0“Fear took over the emotions of our members; and there is no way we should continue the service.”<\/p>\n

Sometimes,we simply have to make the best with what is dished out to us in our lives as well as in our ministries. \u00a0There are events that seem to ruin even the greatest of spiritual experiences. \u00a0I, honestly, do not understand how the Lord will use this disruptive thunder storm for our benefit; but he has promised that all things will work for our good. \u00a0Therefore, we know that God will use it.<\/p>\n

There are thunders storms that attack our lives, changing our plans and even our destiny. \u00a0Our husband or wife dies. \u00a0We lose our jobs. \u00a0We are forced to do things that seem hard. \u00a0Our children don’t respond in ways we desire or planned. \u00a0Flexibility can help us to walk into deeper water in the love of Christ. \u00a0Using flexibility to make-do when life throws us off kilter can harden and strengthen our relationship with the Lord, teaching us to love the Lord more than we ever thought possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was the annual gathering of Special Gathering members. \u00a0Each year nearly 200 mentally challenged people meet in Vero Beach at Life for Youth Camp for Retreat Agape. \u00a0For almost 30 years, we have met there from Friday morning until Monday morning each Memorial Day weekend. \u00a0It’s a gloriously fun place for our members who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3,40,186,49,16,12,4,41],"tags":[690,697,21,688,7,699,715,701,694,689,6,247],"class_list":["post-2641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-camp-agape","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-special-gathering"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking do - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/05\/making-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making do - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was the annual gathering of Special Gathering members. \u00a0Each year nearly 200 mentally challenged people meet in Vero Beach at Life for Youth Camp for Retreat Agape. \u00a0For almost 30 years, we have met there from Friday morning until Monday morning each Memorial Day weekend. \u00a0It’s a gloriously fun place for our members who…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/05\/making-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-05-29T22:15:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/05\/Camp-Agape-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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