God takes joy in our joy. I know that much about God and nothing else.
For years I have wondered what possible use God could have for my competitive nature. It is a huge piece of who I am. It is the part of me that almost always wins out over whatever my better judgement is saying. I am competitive. I want to win. Which is why retiring from my favorite camp game a few years ago was both heartbreaking and necessary.
My health was getting bad, at the time I did not realize just how bad it would get before it got better, and I was just too deep in the water. I cared more about winning and getting that championship belt than I did about the health and safety of the teenagers I was playing with. I remember turning to my friend Heather while watching the final round of Kajabba Jabba Can Can. "I don't think I can play this game anymore." I actually choked up a little. It is my favorite thing.
And I didn't. The next two years I sat out of KJCC, despite my high school campers running up to me asking if I was going to play and some mild pouting when I said no. "It's not as much fun when you don't play."
This year, I couldn't be at high school camp until Thursday night. Grown up responsibilities are truly the worst. It meant that I didn't have to worry about telling people I couldn't play on Wednesday. I drove out on Thursday afternoon and made it to camp by 6:30, barely missing dinner.
I walked in.
"Katie!" One of the campers hurried up to me. "Do you know what you are here just in time for?"
"Well... not dinner."
"Kajabba."
"What? But you guys were supposed to play last night."
My friend Heather was sitting on the couches nearby. "It was raining so we postponed it to tonight."
"Are you going to play?"
"I..." I looked down at my sandaled feet. My good camp shoes fell apart as I was packing. I had ordered a new pair but they wouldn't arrive for another couple of days. Kajabba Jabba Can Can is the kind of game that you cannot play in sandals. You need tie up shoes or you will probably lose your toes. "I don't have tie up shoes."
Heather stood up. "What size are you?"
"Usually 9."
She walked into the wing where some of the staff who weren't in cabins stayed emerging a few minutes later with a bright red pair of tennis shoes. "Try these." They fit.
You know how they talk in movies about stars aligning and things coming together perfectly. That is what it was. Everything lined up. I had been allowed to leave work early enough to beat traffic to get to camp early-ish. I have known Heather for 20 years but did not know that we wore the same size and she hadn't even intended on bringing the second pair of shoes. I had even packed my Kajabba Jabba Can Can shirt on a whim that morning.
"Okay, let me go change."
Here's the thing. God takes pleasure in our joy. Our relationship with God isn't just about singing slow somber songs about how God loves us and having someone to lean on in the hard times. Yes, God is here for those things but God is also there in our friendships and our fun. God is there when we celebrate our victories, when we create, we laugh and dance. Then we share those joys with others and God takes pleasure in that as well. I firmly believe that God allowed me to get there in time to play and arranged it so I could play because God takes pleasure in my joy and was allowing me the chance to experience that joy.
I walked out into the big field a few minutes later, ready to play. A few campers who had been busy doing their own thing when I arrived saw me. Lily, one I had known since she was 8 came over. "Katie, you're here. Are you going to play?"
"I'm going to play."
"Yes, this is going to be a good round."
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