No wash out for Em

Emily is no average washer-woman.

Her cheerleader looks and glowing smile make her look more like a sitcom star or a cosmetics model.

But this brown-eyed girl in the laundry at Young Life camp is an orphan, and a rebel and a former drug user. And that's just part of the story.

When Emily was 12, her little sister got cancer and died. Her single mom came home from the hospital and found comfort in alcohol. So Emily left to live with her father, who had never cared for a kid, much less a drug-using 13-year-old.

That arrangement didn't work. Emily found herself alone.

Her parents weren't dead, but they might as well have been. Then she met her real Father.

I've heard testimonies and turn-arounds and turning-overs. But Emily's is astounding.

This month she is washing bedding and towels from morning to evening WITHOUT PAY -- hoping that the campers, many of whom hurt like she did, will see God in her carefully folded towels and hospital-cornered sheets.

This mite of a girl reminds me of the widow Jesus pointed to as an example of true giving. She had nothing, but she gave it all.

Emily's story can make the average teen feel ashamed to have two parents -- or even one -- who loves their guts.

Sad to have a brother or sister they push around.

Reminded that those who have been given much are expected to give back more.

St. Francis of Assisi said, "It is in giving that we receive."

Emily proves it.

She is one rich little girl.