Field Trip Frustrations

I always was a big fan of field trips.

I mean really, who isn't?

You get out of school for a day.

You get to sit next to your best friend on a school bus.

You get to wear a cool t-shirt.

And, my personal favorite part, you get to eat a sack lunch.

Capri-suns were my jam.

And I got to go on a lot of cool field trips when I was in elementary school.

I went to the zoo.

I got to see plays.

I even got to sing Christmas Carols at a Publix.

Which was made even cooler when the bakery gave us free cookies.

So, when they told us in the fourth grade that we were going on a field trip, I was pumped.

I waited anxiously, hands gripping the edge of my desk.

Where were we going to go?

What were we going to do?

What was going to be inside of that sack lunch?

And you can imagine my surprise, and my disappointment, when I was told we were going to go on a hike.

A hike, in nature.

A hike , that involved physical activity.

As a very large, very overweight bookworm of a ten year old, this was not exactly on the top of my priority list.

But, at least we would still get a sack lunch.

So the day came.

Field Trip Day.

We all put on our matching t-shirts, boarded the buses, and headed down the road to Kennesaw Mountain, a Marietta  must see, complete with cannons "from" the Civil War.

And as we unloaded the buses, made sure our tennis shoes were tied, and had a last minute bathroom break, the teacher informed us-

"Today, we are going to have a very special job. Today, we are going to have one student that is going to lead us on our hike. This job is extremely important, and I have chosen to give this job to"

A long pause, for effect, our 10 year old breathes baited and waiting

"Katie Johnson!"

I was shocked.

I was thrilled.

I was confused.

Why was I, the least athletic person in my class, the girl who always got picked last for dodgeball, the girl that cried in front of the entire grade because she couldn't hoolahoop, getting picked to be the Lewis and Clark of Cheatham Hill Elementary?

Confused or not, I was ready to lead with honor.

I tightened my Keds, pulled up my elastic waisted shorts and started on the hike.

Two minutes later, I was huffing and puffing.

Over my wheezing, I heard another student ask the guide from the Visitor Center,

"Why did Katie get to lead?"

The guide whispered, loud enough so only this other student ( and my eavesdropping ears) could hear;

"Because we have to put the slowest person in the front. That way they set the pace for the whole group".

I wasn't picked because I was the smartest.

I wasn't picked because I was the fastest.

I was picked because I was the slowest.

I was picked because I was just that bad.

And while this moment was a humiliating one in my childhood, sometimes it helps to think about how the Lord can use even the worst person to prove what an amazing God He is.

Paul, one of Jesus' disciples, wasn't chosen because he was good, the star religious pupil in the time.

Paul, before he came face to face with Jesus, was actually the opposite of good.

Paul actually hated the Christians, and persecuted them every chance he could get.

But then, when he met Jesus, his life was flipped around.

And in 1st Timothy, a letter Paul is writing from jail because of his beliefs, he says,

¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 

God chose Paul not because he was good,

Not because he was the smartest,

Not because he was the fastest.

God chose Paul, because he was the worst of the worst.

Because he needed Jesus the most,

And because when people looked at Paul they could say,

"Wow, look at what his life looked like before- and look at it now. What made such a difference?"

And everyone would know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it came from a face to face encounter with Jesus Christ.

Our God is a God that not only loves the weak,

and the bad,

and the slow,

and the messed up,

but chooses to change their lives and use them.

And that is something that I find great hope in.

Because I know that sometimes I am weak,

and bad,

and slow, 

and messed up.

But I'm also loved.

And chosen.

And now able to climb Kennesaw Mountain without having a small heart attack.