No Pain, No Gain

When I was in college and a counselor at a Methodist church camp, I was avoiding moving from one town to another. So, I decided to stay on our off week at camp. An outside camp was coming in for the week, so I stayed with the lifeguards and offered my help during the day to the staff. This camp was a Muscular Dystrophy camp. Children and youth all over came in to have a wonderful camp experience. During this week, I met this 11 year old boy. He was the life of the party! He was born with shorter limbs which left him wheelchair bound. He was quite the flirt and just loved people. The campers came on Sunday and on Wednesday the families came in for a visit. The week ended on Saturday. This Wednesday all the families came in, but his. As we all gathered in the tabernacle, the families gathered in a circle around the campers. Each camper had worked on a thank you note and craft for their family. As the song “Thank You” played, the campers gave their gifts. It was quite emotional. The lifeguards and I stood on the outside looking in. It was a beautiful site to see. This little boy broke though the circle and wheeled back to us. He stopped in front of me and gave me his thank you note and craft. As I cried, I hugged his neck and told him how special this made me feel. He smiled and wheeled off to hug other friends families. The lifeguards and I realized it was time for us to exit stage left, so we began to quietly leave. He saw us and he wheeled over and stopped me in my tracks. He said, “Emily, I need you to stop crying. All the pain we have here on earth we are gaining all in heaven. Just remember in short… No Pain, No Gain.” WOW, that is one lesson I guess God meant for me to learn. I have remembered this, especially when life was so hard I wasn’t sure what to do. I’m blessed to of known this young boy. I pray that when things get tough, remember Jesus provided the path for us to gain everything in Him.

“For God so loved the world; that He gave us his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” -John 3:16