Prayers and Pennies

Two huge things that I want to give God the glory for! First, there is a guy I have been praying for since last October. For a chance to develop relationship and for Him to start a relationship with Jesus. Last night after AWANAs, I stopped to chat with him, and we talked for 15 minutes about his past, where he kind of is with God, and why a relationship with God is vital. WOW! I had been praying for this guy in my quiet time in the morning and that evening here I am sitting and talking to him about things that matter for eternity! He's not ready to decide yet, but I'm forming relationship with him and am planting seeds. Not because I'm smart or so good at that, but because God hears prayers and moves through the Holy Spirit to put us in places to love His people. God does all the work putting us in the right place at the right time with the right heart, so all we have to do is open our eyes and jump on the opportunities He throws our way! Makes you look at Phil. 4:13 in a new way when you think about it like that.

Second, I had an interesting talk with Jentri (my 6 year old daughter) last night. She had been given a dollar by a lady the other day and wanted to talk to me about how to spend it last night. She asked me what to do with it, and I asked her what she wanted. She said that she wanted a snack from school, but she could bring one from home so she didn't want to spend it on that. Then she thought perhaps spending it on her teacher, or giving it for Haiti. I asked her if her teacher really needed it, and she said no, but the people in Haiti did so she decided to give it to them. But I noticed she still wasn't happy, so I asked what the problem was. She asked if I had given money to Haiti, and I said yes. And she said that she felt like her dollar was useless because I could give so much more, and she wanted to give more and didn't have any money (in part because she had just emptied her piggy bank savings for the last 6 months into our Lottie Moon offering for foreign missionaries). So I smiled at her and had her sit in my lap and I told her that there was a story ab out Jesus she needed to hear.

I then told the story about Jesus and the pennies. One day in the temple Jesus was standing around watching as all the people came in and gave their money to help people. And there were some rich people who were coming up and giving $1000 at a time. And everyone would see their gifts and they would clap and say what good gifts they gave. And then a lady went up who very quietly gave 2 pennies, all the money she had. And suddenly Jesus got everyone's attention and asked if people had seen the woman's gift. Everyone said yeah, but what's the big deal since she only gave 2 pennies? And Jesus said that her present was the best gift given. Everyone was freaked out and said that didn't make sense since other people had given so much more than the lady. But Jesus said no, her 2 pennies were a much better gift. Because the people who gave $1000 had many more thousands of dollars at home, but not the lady. That was all the money she had. So her gift was more valuable to Jesus because she gave all she had to help others.

Jentri looks at me, and the biggest grin comes over her face and she says, "So my gift is the best?" And then I grinned back and said, "Yep." So she hopped up and put the money in her Bible to give Sunday. But we weren't done. She then asked me what the money would be used for. And I explained how it would buy food and water, and that those supplies would be given away to the people until they were gone. She then asked if everybody would only get one meal and one bottle of water. When I said yes, she got a very focused look on her face and said, "We all need to give more because it would be so much better if we could give everyone like 2 or 3 bottles of water, because more water is better." And I agreed. Then we prayed along with Landri (my 4 year old daughter) and we prayed especially for Haiti.

Now Jentri is not perfect, she can often drive you crazy and be a selfish kid, and I'm not usually such a good Bible teacher on the spot like that, but lat night God worked on both of us and taught us both something about what it means to love Him and to love others. And I'm glad that I get to walk on my spiritual journey with Jentri, because I'm already richer because of it. God is so good...