Paintball Day

Saturday, July 27, 2013


Excitement
                                                   Anticipation
                       Anxiety

Jittery and bright-eyed, I jump out of bed. Today's finally the long-awaited paintball day!

Chill breeze
                                   Gray skies
                   Quiet...
                                                     Calm before the coming storm

What will today be like? It’ll be awesome because I believe that God provided this day to be exactly what it is!  Whatever comes about… today will be a day of blessings!

At the paintball field, set up starts: friends come early to help, Noel deals with the overall set-up and I assign groups. Last-minute waiver forms wave in my face. Money flashes by. Furiously scribbling notations and new updates… more friends come. Numbers flying, last-minute changes... Ahhhhhhhhhh. I give up! I don't have time to recalculate... I can't delay or we will start playing too late. Let’s pay up and get started!

Front desk:

16 rentals with 500 paintballs, 7 rentals with 1000 rounds of paint, 7 self-equipped... 3 of these are team admits.... Oops, make that 2 _more_ rentals with 500 rounds of paint. Oh, you don't have a gun? I lost count. There’s one person with no equipment, can I get another rental and I’ll count people later and let you know if we owe a rental fee.

Okay… how many want/need chest protectors? No, not everyone gets chest protectors, only girls and people who are really afraid of getting hurt. 14?  Do 14 of you _really_ need chest protectors?  Never mind.  Okay, can we get 14 chest protectors… here, can you hand these out? Oh yeah, a pod pack for each rental please… oh, you only have 14? Okay, we’ll take those 14 pod packs. Uhhhhhh, we're missing a bag of paint? *dripping sweat* Guess there was an uncounted for rental. I’ll pay for one more rental package with 500 paintballs please!

That’s all for rentals and equipment right? Okay, let’s get ready to play!  Santa Clara Paintball will provide orientation to safety, additional introduction by Noel and I regarding equipment usage, prayer, group picture (because I know I’ll forget later!), hand out bags of paint, meet and greet teammates, get to know your team coaches... let's go play!

Father in Heaven, thank you thank you THANK YOU so much for a fun-filled day of paintball: running, yelling, shooting, tension, excitement, teamwork, communication, learning, teaching, adrenaline, pain, full-out physical activity, sharpened senses, fear, bruises, joyfully bright smiles… so much life! Thank you, Father God, for the ability to grow together with friends, to meet new people… to experience your thousand-and-one blessings in unexpected ways.

Father, even as I got really antsy and irritable with the constant last-minute changes… Lord, you gave me peace and calmness of heart and the humility to apologize for my high-strung demands for waivers and money ASAP. *wide grin* Lord, even in the midst of all this event planning and execution, thank you for the peace of knowing that this is your event, under your protection and provision… and because of that, I’m able to be at peace when I acknowledge your power and your authority… to lean on you and not myself.

Lord, you provided us with personal equipment from Santa Clara Paintball staff as our own equipment broke down. You gave us wonderful coaches and lieutenants who actively invested in teaching beginners how to play and handle equipment, friends who came to watch assisted in driving people to our home for lunch... you provided time to take pictures, time to rest, plenty of water, snacks and food... so much and more!  Lord God, your abundance of blessings is again beyond any expectations… anything I could even have dreamed of on my part. Father, thank you for again showing me your power and your strength when I am weak… thank you for providing when I can’t… thank you for turning a crazy event into a manageable one… thank you for covering all aspects I didn’t plan for!

Thank you, Father God, for this opportunity to play paintball with a lot of friends right before my surgery!

Lord... I don't know what else to say except "thank you" over and over and over again!  Your love and your provisions and your attention to details is amazing!

So... In Jesus’ name I praise my Father in Heaven, amen.

All the daring peeps who were able to make it out to play paintball today!

These are the captains and lieutenants who made this event possible (I'm in here too!)  =P  Thanks everyone!!!  Totally couldn't do this type of event without all of you present!  *big hugs*