What A Day!
Yesterday was fantastic! Bus 5 was the #1 bus and we had a very good time. We had a total of 42 riders with 5 of those being first time riders. But the best news was that Garrett and Cody E. got saved!!
Garrett is a little blondie. He is 8 years old and in the third grade. Cody is a little black boy with the cutest curly eyelashes! He is in the 4th grade. These two boys have been coming for almost a year now. They both went to camp this summer and I am sure that they have heard enough gospel to have understood this decision.
The highlight of my day was an incident that will take some explaining. First of all, we are in a BIG contest on the busses. For four weeks we are pushing for a winner of a $100 gift certificate to Toys-R-Us. That is a very big gift!! The children get points for attendance, bringing their bibles, memorizing the assigned memory verse that they get on Saturday when I bring their flyer by, and bringing visitors. Also they will get extra points for being there all four Sundays. If they bring a parent they get twice as many points as they do for just regular visitors. The kids are very excited about it.
The next detail I need to explain is that Caleb, the boy I have talked about so much, has two sisters and a brother. His little brother is 5 years old and has a slight problem with motor skills due to problems at birth. This also affected his ability to speak. He is such a happy little boy. Though he never speaks, his eyes speak volumes. He is always excited when I come on Saturdays with the bubble gum. Early this summer I asked if he could start riding the bus. His mom and I discussed it and I told her that we could try it and see how he did. I understood that we would have to help him up into the bus and off it. She also wrote a note to the teachers to explain his lack of speech.
He was a little fearful at first but with a little special attention and the careful watch of his sister, Destiny, who is 8, he has learned to love the bus. The louder we get the better he likes it. I never know if he understands or not.
Ok with those details I can then explain that only James and Destiny came yesterday but as he was coming up the steps to the bus, he had the biggest smile I have ever seen and he was holding a bible real high so I could see it. I thought at first he was excited about bringing his bible so he could get points for the contest but then I realized that he wouldn't understand that. I suppose it was just that we make a big deal of bringing your bible on the bus and maybe he likes to sing the B-I-B-L-E!
Whatever it was, those eyes were dancing with delight!
Sunday evening in choir practice, we began to sing a song that has these words for the chorus: "The old book and the old faith is the rock on which I stand.." I just couldn't help smiling when the picture of that sweet face with those black eyes dancing, holding up that grand old book, came back to my memory. Little does that child realize that the book he was so proudly holding, has the answer to his life's problems. There is so much hope in such desperate situations.
Sometimes I wish that God moved as fast as I wanted. Perhaps I wish I could make the bible be a magic wand that instantly changed the situations of all it came in contact with. But, you know, that just doesn't work. God isn't in a hurry like I am and He knows exactly what He is doing. Satan brings discouragement and defeat but all I have to do is look back and see what God is doing, little by little and I know Who is in control.
The new children that rode last week did, indeed have cousins on the other side of town and that counts for the 5 first time riders. They were some sweet children ranging in ages from 5 to 12. A couple of girls told me they wanted to get baptized soon. I asked them what they thought baptism was for and they told me quickly it was for a blessing. I was able to explain that baptism was simply an act of obedience and a witness that a person has accepted that Jesus died, was buried and rose again to provide salvation. They did not understand so I told them that I hoped they would come regularly and listen carefully to all that was said. They promised they would.
Samantha and Melissa helped me again yesterday. It was a surprise because I found out from Samantha's mom that she really didn't care for it. Saturday night the mom called me and told me that Samantha had decided to do the bus ride for the next three weeks to help me with the contest. Praise the Lord. God is working in that life.
I am praying that I will fall so deeply in love with Jesus that it can't help but rub off on these children.
Our memory verse yesterday was John 4:24 "God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." I have a computer program called "Sword Searcher". It is so helpful. This is a comment on this particular verse: "A pure, a holy, a spiritual
worship, therefore, is such as he seeks--the offering of the soul rather than the formal offering of the
body--the homage of the heart rather than that of the lips."
That is very convicting. I never have a shortage of words but I spend so much time telling things that I limit my worship time, the times when I just get away and put my mind to meditating on God's word and praying. I need to make some changes.
Lord, You know my heart and my soul. I hide nothing from you. Cleanse me from pride and arrogance. Help me see that You must increase and I must decrease.
Garrett is a little blondie. He is 8 years old and in the third grade. Cody is a little black boy with the cutest curly eyelashes! He is in the 4th grade. These two boys have been coming for almost a year now. They both went to camp this summer and I am sure that they have heard enough gospel to have understood this decision.
The highlight of my day was an incident that will take some explaining. First of all, we are in a BIG contest on the busses. For four weeks we are pushing for a winner of a $100 gift certificate to Toys-R-Us. That is a very big gift!! The children get points for attendance, bringing their bibles, memorizing the assigned memory verse that they get on Saturday when I bring their flyer by, and bringing visitors. Also they will get extra points for being there all four Sundays. If they bring a parent they get twice as many points as they do for just regular visitors. The kids are very excited about it.
The next detail I need to explain is that Caleb, the boy I have talked about so much, has two sisters and a brother. His little brother is 5 years old and has a slight problem with motor skills due to problems at birth. This also affected his ability to speak. He is such a happy little boy. Though he never speaks, his eyes speak volumes. He is always excited when I come on Saturdays with the bubble gum. Early this summer I asked if he could start riding the bus. His mom and I discussed it and I told her that we could try it and see how he did. I understood that we would have to help him up into the bus and off it. She also wrote a note to the teachers to explain his lack of speech.
He was a little fearful at first but with a little special attention and the careful watch of his sister, Destiny, who is 8, he has learned to love the bus. The louder we get the better he likes it. I never know if he understands or not.
Ok with those details I can then explain that only James and Destiny came yesterday but as he was coming up the steps to the bus, he had the biggest smile I have ever seen and he was holding a bible real high so I could see it. I thought at first he was excited about bringing his bible so he could get points for the contest but then I realized that he wouldn't understand that. I suppose it was just that we make a big deal of bringing your bible on the bus and maybe he likes to sing the B-I-B-L-E!
Whatever it was, those eyes were dancing with delight!
Sunday evening in choir practice, we began to sing a song that has these words for the chorus: "The old book and the old faith is the rock on which I stand.." I just couldn't help smiling when the picture of that sweet face with those black eyes dancing, holding up that grand old book, came back to my memory. Little does that child realize that the book he was so proudly holding, has the answer to his life's problems. There is so much hope in such desperate situations.
Sometimes I wish that God moved as fast as I wanted. Perhaps I wish I could make the bible be a magic wand that instantly changed the situations of all it came in contact with. But, you know, that just doesn't work. God isn't in a hurry like I am and He knows exactly what He is doing. Satan brings discouragement and defeat but all I have to do is look back and see what God is doing, little by little and I know Who is in control.
The new children that rode last week did, indeed have cousins on the other side of town and that counts for the 5 first time riders. They were some sweet children ranging in ages from 5 to 12. A couple of girls told me they wanted to get baptized soon. I asked them what they thought baptism was for and they told me quickly it was for a blessing. I was able to explain that baptism was simply an act of obedience and a witness that a person has accepted that Jesus died, was buried and rose again to provide salvation. They did not understand so I told them that I hoped they would come regularly and listen carefully to all that was said. They promised they would.
Samantha and Melissa helped me again yesterday. It was a surprise because I found out from Samantha's mom that she really didn't care for it. Saturday night the mom called me and told me that Samantha had decided to do the bus ride for the next three weeks to help me with the contest. Praise the Lord. God is working in that life.
I am praying that I will fall so deeply in love with Jesus that it can't help but rub off on these children.
Our memory verse yesterday was John 4:24 "God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." I have a computer program called "Sword Searcher". It is so helpful. This is a comment on this particular verse: "A pure, a holy, a spiritual
worship, therefore, is such as he seeks--the offering of the soul rather than the formal offering of the
body--the homage of the heart rather than that of the lips."
That is very convicting. I never have a shortage of words but I spend so much time telling things that I limit my worship time, the times when I just get away and put my mind to meditating on God's word and praying. I need to make some changes.
Lord, You know my heart and my soul. I hide nothing from you. Cleanse me from pride and arrogance. Help me see that You must increase and I must decrease.
posted by momlinda1945 | 8:26 AM
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