When Pampers are the Only Thing Between You and a Wet Tent
By Dennis Rainey
We had been living out of suitcases for seven weeks. Our two little ones dealt with rather explosive intestinal issues, going through Pampers like they owned the factory.
My billfold and my wife’s purse were stolen on the front end of our journey to Colorado to receive training to begin a ministry to families. Not only did we lose all of our credit cards, but our identification as well. After hours of fruitless searching, I was finally able to thank God that He was in control.
Still gluttons for punishment, we pressed on to Colorado where we decided to camp out with our two toddlers (primarily because we didn’t have enough capital on our person to finance a motel room). That night, a deluge of rain camped with us. Our tent was transformed from shelter to funnel.
Massive applications of diapers, placed at strategic locations inside the tent to soak up minor floods, kept us dry.
By the time we finally arrived for training, we were wondering if we could really be the ones God wanted to start this ministry to families. It seemed as though our home had quite a few bruises, scrapes, and lacerations. Let me confide in you that we had lost our perspective of thanking God “in all things.”
Then a couple of days later a flash flood—the worst in Colorado history—hit Estes Park, taking the lives of seven of our fellow staff members.
You know something? That disastrous incident flipped a switch in our perspective. Our soaked tent and kids’ dirty diapers were gifts in lives that served a sovereign King as long as He generously gave us breath—and whatever we needed for the next day.
For an entire downloadable Family Gratitude Plan, click here.
The Good Stuff: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)
Action Points: Thank God for one thing each that makes you feel:
- pressured or overwhelmed
- hemmed-in by life’s daily drudgeries
- out of control
- disappointed
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