Serving From the Heart!

Tonight we had an appreciation cookout for our volunteers. It just blessed me to see them drive up and walk down to the pavilion. They have been soooooo faithful to serve the children in the Good News Clubs in the local schools in their counties. My heart was stirred by their testimonies of God at work in their lives and the lives of the children. They are truly serving from the heart!

Being with volunteers who are so sold out to God and love the children... just impassion my soul to burn harder and brighter for my Savior. Many children have never heard of the One True and Living God and I can't wait to tell them!

Don't Waste It...It's A Gift!

Everyday each of us are given 86,400 tiny gifts in the form of seconds. That's right there is 86,400 seconds in every day we live! Wow...that is a lot and yet how many times do we say, "Where did the time go!" When Andrew was killed at 17 I felt like it was so unfair...he had his whole life ahead of him and yet it was over! The hardest thing was I had to keep living. It made me really examine my time and realize that every breath I breathe I am accountable for and need to really make it count. So self evaluation is a must! Where do I put my time? How much time is wasted? How much time does God get out of each day? The questions go on and on? Have you ever asked yourself those questions?

Well, if you are looking for a place to really invest your gift of time...start with the children. You knew I would say that didn't you? :) Time spent on the children will never be wasted. Anyone who works with children knows that they grow up so fast. Invite them to church with you or better yet sign up to teach them. The truths they learn as children...good or bad are planted deep within their soul life. What an awesome privilege to be a part of building a spiritual foundation in their lives! You can also invest in the children by praying for them. I challenge you to take a few minutes daily to call their names out in prayer and claim God's best for their lives!

Recently while with a group of children a little boy sat across form me. He had sad eyes and looked down whenever he was spoken to. His first words to speak greatly surprised me! He put his hand on my Bible and said, "Let's get started...I've had a lot of trouble getting here, I dont know much about God and I may never get to come back!" I was intrigued by the intenseness of what he was saying and knew in my heart I had better not waste time! :) Since he was new I got the group to introduce themselves to him and tell him a little about themselves. When it came time to share about himself...this is what he said. "My name is ______, don't ask me about my moma because she ran off and left me when I was a baby, my daddy never does anything with me, I take medicine because I am hyper and teachers scratch me off their like list on the first day of school every year, I don't have any friends and I wish I did. I am the kind of kid nobody wants!"

I began to burn like fire on the inside...realizing that God had put an awesome opportunity before me!! This child was hurting, broken, needy, had loss of self worth, many more issues and needed the love of God like never before.

This is just a glimpse of what is happening to the children in our society. I plan on doing all I can to keep him on my radar and pour all I can for God into his life every opportunity I get! I will keep you posted.