Tricksters

      
            I have loved living with a dorm of 5^th and 6^th grade boys. They are each unique in their own ways. They are sweet and funny! It’s so fun to get to know them! It is so cute when they call me Aunt Meredith!

            I have had the privilege of doing Dorm Coverage for the Hildebrands once a week. That's when their family gets some needed time together and I run study hall, devotions, and bed time.

            So, here is a funny story from the first night that I did Dorm Coverage.

            Study hall (designated homework time) didn't go so well that night. I'd been in charge of it before, but this night was somehow different because I was “supposed” to be in charge. Two of the boys were not being obedient and were distracting the others. That did not start the night off very well, but I was optimistic.

            After study hall is devotion time. I read Eph. 2:1-10 and Ps. 103. We talked about each idea and they had lots of questions. These verses point to God’s grace and our inadequacy to earn that grace. We are all sinners, but God chose to treat us in a way that we don’t deserve—to give us a chance to live the way he created us to live. He is willing to forgive us so that we could live out our purpose in life, to honor and glorify him through doing the good works he prepared for us.

            Also, God gives us so many beautiful blessings, like nature, RVA, dorm parents, yummy food, safety, technology, and much more. He gives these things to us and we rarely acknowledge that these gifts are from Him. Instead, we are prideful and feel like we deserve these blessings. We treat God as if he does not have a part in giving them to us. And we turn from Him in sin.

            So why do we divert back to our old habits and keep sinning? Why not walk in the grace of God and be thankful for what he's given us, showing our thankfulness through loving him and following his commands?

            God treats us in a way that we do not deserve—with grace and compassion. We do not have the same, godly instinct when people treat us badly—we want to treat them badly too. There had been talk amongst the boys about how other kids in the 6^th grade were not treating them kindly and there was a lot of conflict. So, I wanted to give them an idea of what their responses should be—not to retaliate and repay evil for evil, but to be gracious and forgiving. For, God has forgiven us much and we are trying to learn how to be like His Son.

            It took us a while to get through those verses. They are thoughtful boys, for the most part, but sometimes we would get off on tangents because of random questions they would ask. We talked and discussed each little thing about the verses, because they are pretty dense with a lot of concepts/metaphors/ideas that are hard to understand. These discussions led to other, deeper questions they'd ask and then I'd have to turn the conversation back to the topic because I didn't want to let them get sidetracked too much. Plus I wasn't prepared to answer some of their questions!

            Anyway, that is just the background information. The main part of my story is when I was putting them to bed. They are in 3 different rooms. The three goofiest boys are in the middle room. They like to joke around with me and be sarcastic. So, when I got to their room to pray with them, two of them were on their beds and the third was completely covered in his blankets and not moving.

            As soon as I walked in, I said, "Where's John?" Kyle said, "He's really mad." And Stephen said, "Yeah, Kyle said something to him..." As I was trying to cover Stephen up, I said, "What did you say, Kyle?" Kyle responded sheepishly, "uh...something not nice." I was remembering the devotion we’d just had about pleasing the Lord and treating others with grace, and said, "Well, that's disappointing..." I went to John under the covers and said, "John, please come out from under the covers; I know you can hear me." And when he didn't move I thought, "Man, he can't be THAT mad."

            So I moved the covers back and IT WAS A PILE OF PILLOWS!!!!!!!! John then emerged from the closet!!!!!! Hysterical laughter erupted from the boys and from me! I could not contain myself! I was laughing so hard! I walked out of the room and then back in and then dropped on the floor laughing! I can't believe I COMPLETELY fell for their trick!!!!! SO FUNNY!!! They were so happy that they had tricked me, and I was slightly embarrassed at being tricked. But it was so funny and it made my night!