Every Bit Counts

My mom and step-dad came for a visit last week, and we had a great time spending a SHORT visit with them. They only had a few days here since they're in the process of building a house and both have jobs, but we enjoyed those days a ton. My little neighbor Paola thought that, because I introduced them as "the grandparents," they were HER grandparents, so they went home with one more granddaughter than they came with!

My mom brought some goodies from various folks (thank you!) and one of those goodies was an envelope with $13 inside, from the children and youth of Wrenn's Chapel Church of God of Prophecy. We wanted to do something specific for the kids here with this money, and found a grocery store in the capital with little gloves on sale. I figured up how many children were in the local school, determined we could buy them all a pair at that price, and we stopped by the store the next time we were in town. Unfortunately, the advertised gloves turned out to be baby sized and there were only 7 left. Okay, maybe no gloves.

That same week, when we went for Friday Bible class, I noticed one little girl sitting at her desk while the others played. She wasn't wearing shoes. It's quite chilly here and had been raining for several days before, so I asked her if her shoes had gotten wet. She told me she'd loaned them to her cousin so that the cousin could play. I sat the two gals side-by-side, and found out that the too big, worn-out, broken pair of flip-flops being shared between these two little girls actually belonged to an aunt, and the girls borrowed them to walk to school daily. I know where these girls live, and it's a LONG walk.

When recess ended and they gathered inside for the Bible class, Saul began to teach and I jumped in the car to run to town. I thought about the offering in the envelope on the way, and before the school day ended, the Wrenn's Chapel kids had bought two precious little girls a pair of socks and a pair of tennis shoes each.

I know the church the money came from, and some of those young folks there are my extended family. It's a small church in a tiny community, not far from where I grew up. Something strange is that one of the little girls who received the shoes actually looks just like my cousin's daughters, who happen to be part of the group that sent the money. I've said a million times how that little Paraguayan girl could fit right in and no one would know she wasn't blood-related. And in God's funny little ways, He connected them. Thank you, kids, for bringing in your change and making a big difference in the everyday lives of these two gals and their families.

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