On the Road Again
By: Laura - Posted on: 6/3/2010 11:28:14 AM

We had just finished a quick lunch at McDonald's when the problem hit. Our old, faithful church van, lovingly named the Purple People Eater in honor of its atrocious burgundy paintjob, had finally decided to kick the bucket. On any other day, the shiny new White Van would happily carry First Church of the Nazarene's teens to wherever they were going, but today wasn't an ordinary day.

Today was the first day of Extravaganza. Teens from across four states would be gathering to encourage each other in Christ, meet new friends, and play a few mean games of dodgeball. And we were stranded at McDonald's. Our youth pastor, Chad, gathered us around the sad, purple body. He was certain, he said, that God was going to do something amazing this weekend, and the enemy was trying his hardest to stop it. That wasn't in his power. Chad asked us to lay our hands on poor Purple, but just as we were about to pray, we were interrupted by an older man with an extremely large beard.

He, too, was a youth pastor on his way to Extravaganza, and wondered if we needed some help. His teens had an extra van that we could all pile into. But Chad felt certain that God had a point to prove, so instead, we asked the stranger to join us. Twenty-four pairs of hands reached out to dead Purple and prayed. The enemy has no right and no authority to disrupt the plans of God. So when we lifted our heads, turned the key, and old Purple roared back to life like a 2010 Camaro, we knew the God who loved us had crushed Satan that day. Chad was right: God did do something amazing that weekend.