I am standing in front of my big jump house just waiting on some kids to come. My tiny little sign that read "2 and 3 year olds" is posted right by the step to get in. Well, the kids didn't just "trickle" in. In 2 min the jump house went from zero kids to like 25!! I was amazed! Those kids came sprinting and before I could even speak they had thrown their shoes off and were doing flips inside! And how many of those kids do you think were ages 2 & 3?? Ha. Maybe like 4 of them and they were in danger because the 8 year olds were doing flips! Lee came strolling across the park at that moment and said all he saw was me standing in front of the jump house FULL of kids that were obviously too old to be in our jump house! I couldnt control the ages, much less HOW MANY kids were getting in. Praise God for a sweet little momma in that moment. She NOTICED my sign :) and started yelling at all the big kids to get out and go to the other jump house! Whew! I got a little better at managing it the rest of the day. I had some help too!
Overall, Saturday was a fun day at the park! Miller Man loved it too! I talked at length with a mother of 2 who is in the process of adopting a baby girl from China! I talked to a few other moms who desire to adopt in the future. It was so encouraging and refreshing to talk to other mothers who are like-minded and have hearts for orphans.
I have another story from Saturday. This story has resulted in an ongoing conversation I am having with the Lord.
Looking into the jump house full of kids, they all looked the same. Just a bunch of kids having a great time on a beautiful Saturday. However, there was one little girl jumping in the jump house who is anything other than ordinary. Her name is Rayne. For those of you who attend Pinelake- you will probably remember her story, which was told recently at church. This little girl is 5 years old. (I know, she was too old for our jump house :) but she gets a pass! And she has a younger sister who was jumping!) Anyway, I am not sure about all the details of her story, but I know that she realized that not everyone had a Bible. So she told her mom that she wanted to give people Bibles that didn't have one. She would make bracelets to pay for them. Her mother said "it was all Rayne's idea." Around Christmas they began making bracelets and handing out Bibles. Today Rayne has handed out over 400 Bibles! She is impacting the Kingdom in a mighty way at the young age of 5. I talked with her mom about the ministry. Particularly I wanted to know how the mom felt when Rayne first came up with the idea. She replied "I didn't really know what it would look like." But Rayne's mom took the leap of faith with her child. She told of a time when they needed over 100 Bibles and in 2 days they had them. She said Rayne looked at her and said, "Mama, God IS FAITHFUL!" Wow! To experience the Faithfulness and Provision of the Lord at such a young age is awesome! Rayne is outliving her life! She is making a difference in the lives of others that will long outlive Rayne's life here on earth. Just imagine. Rayne gives someone a Bible. They see the love of Christ and come to know the Lord. They lead their family to Christ. Generations are impacted all because of the small step of faith a 5 year old took!
My conversation with the Lord in reference to Rayne's story:
When hearing her story my first reaction, because I'm a mom now, was how would I react if Miller wanted to do something like that? Everyone WANTS to say "oh I would just be so proud!" But let's be realistic! Our first reaction is "how is this going to impact me?" Rayne can't drive. She has no money. She is not capable of organizing any kind of business, including setting up times/places to distribute Bibles. So who do you think is the backbone of the organization? Rayne's mother! There are a million things Rayne's mother could have feared such as: what will people think? I don't have enough time for this. Will Rayne be disappointed if it doesn't all work out? Will people buy bracelets? Will Rayne get tired of doing it (because she's 5) and then leave me with all this work?
But Rayne's mom didn't give in to any fears (if she had them). Instead she encouraged her daughter to step out in faith! She supported her 100% no matter how big the task was. And on Sunday, I saw Rayne's mom running around church with a bag full of bracelets handing them out!
My heart - and part of my conversation with the Lord.
God help me to encourage Miller to take leaps of faith for You! I pray that he would have a desire to impact your kingdom and outlive his life. I pray that I would never discourage him from acting in faith to You no matter how scary the task may seem! In Matthew 16:22 Peter tries to convince Christ not to go to the cross because Peter loves Jesus and doesn't want to see him suffer. However, Christ rebukes Peter and calls him a stumbling block! Satan used Peter's fear about what Christ would have to go through to tempt Jesus to disobey God and not go to the cross! I am SO thankful Jesus didn't listen to Peter!!
God I pray that I would not react like Peter! I pray that I am never a stumbling block to my children. I love them but you love them more! If you called your own son to the cross, do I think you will not call my children to difficult tasks? Teach me to trust You in the things you call them to no matter how afraid I am! Fear is not from You but from satan! I pray that Lee and I are discerning and encouraging!
Email braceletsforbibles@yahoo.com to buy bracelets!
Our bracelets! Lee's is Mississippi State :)
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