Bad Attitude

I had a really bad attitude at camp today.

It all started with Sunday's monsoon. I doubt even a duck could survive. I really enjoyed having all that rain. Listening to it, watching it outside my house. It was glorious. But then it made the dirt on the trail in the woods all muddy, and the dirt road a giant slip and slide. More like, "you WILL slip, and you WILL slide, and I will eat little kid's shoes too!!!!"
On the nature hike today, there was this adorable girl near where I picked to walk in the line of kids. Or so I thought. She ended up being really whiny and annoying. It was 9:45am and I was not ready for this. She fell in the mud, and either screamed or cried ever time she fell. I told her to walk on the grass, but she chose to walk on the mud. She kept losing the line of kids in front of her because she was soooo slow. It was horrible. There was mud everywhere. The creek was still muddy. There were spiders and snails on every single plant and tree.
But then... I remembered as we ended the walk... God made that. God made mud. God made that little girl. How old was she? She was 6 years old, going into 1st grade. She NEEDED to be loved. She NEEDED to hold my hand.
I was so selfish. I missed the beautiful woods dripping with raindrops. I missed the beauty of God in the eyes of a little girl. I missed the adventure boys find at every turn, at every rock climb, every mudslide.
I wanted that walk to be over. I was done before it began. How many times am I like that? During the school year? During weekend breaks? Christmas?
Is it fair of me to complain? Perhaps... perhaps not.

The Bible talks alot about God being our Father. Our culture strives to make us into individuals. Strong and independent, we will need no one. Is this how it ought to be? We do need to be able to stand our own and not be weak people, but we also NEED to lean on someone. We can't live this life alone.
The Psalms are littered with pleas. People in need, crying out to God to rescue them from the mud.
Psalm 40:1-3 is perfect for today.

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new son in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

The amazing thing is that God gave me a soft heart to learn from Him today.

I learned about the Creator of the universe from a whiny, muddy little girl.