This school year Sarah has been working in the community food pantry and clothing bank.

Sarah has been doing very well following instructions. She puts cans on the shelf for the local food pantry and is a hard worker. If she picks her nose, they stop her and have her wash her hands. If she can go 7 minutes without picking her nose, she gets a token. If she gets 5 tokens, she can do something she likes to do (color or computer time). Overall, she is doing very well, except…..

One day in the clothing bank, a girl’s youth size pink sweater with a horse on it came in. It was very distinctive and stood out amongst the clothes they were folding. The little girl sweater was put on the table to be available for the community and the class left the clothing room and returned to their classroom.

Later that day, the teacher was teaching up front and he looked at Sarah. He did a double take because Sarah was wearing a very tight, way too small, pink sweater over her clothes. As he looked, he saw that it had a horse on it.

“Sarah, that is not your shirt.” He said trying not to laugh.

Sarah refused to make eye contact and pretended she didn’t hear him.

“Sarah, you need to put that back.”

With that Sarah got up from her desk, huffed, and stomped out of the classroom to return the sweater to the clothing bank. Such the drama girl!

He told us that if it was in her size, he would have let her keep it. He recently let her keep a stuffed horse doll that came into the clothing bank because he knew how much she wanted it. She was thrilled!

What a wonderful gift!

David and I experienced a wonderful gift recently. On our way to pick up Jack for Thanksgiving break a few weeks ago, we stayed overnight in Blacksburg, VA. David loves to visit university football stadiums. Blacksburg, VA is home to Virginia Tech and David wanted to see if we could see the stadium. We got to Blacksburg too late the night before, so early the next morning before we drove the last stretch to get Jack, we drove to the campus. As we drove around the football stadium, heavy chains were over each of the gates.

It wasn’t looking good.

“Let’s go to the main office and see.”

As we got out and walked to the main office the doors were locked. We were there too early. As we walked back to our car, I prayed and asked the Lord if there was any way we could get in. I knew how much it meant to David. Just then a car pulled in.

David looked at me, “Should I ask this guy about letting us in?”

“Yes! Why not?” (Thinking to myself this is exactly what I prayed for!)

David approached the man and asked.

“Sure! Follow me!”

With that, he gave us a tour of the stadium. We got to walk on the field and go into the team tunnel. As we were walking out, I jumped and touched the Hokie stone like I was a player! 😊

We thanked the man and found out that he graduated from Liberty (Jack’s school).

He said, “Happy to show you. It’s funny. I’m normally not here this early. I woke up early this morning, so I just decided to come into work.”

When we got back into the car, I looked at David and said, “Isn’t it amazing that the God of the universe is our Father and cares for us? He made that happen for you.” David smiled and nodded his head.

What a wonderful gift!

This past year, I have been studying the book of Genesis. What amazes me is the moment sin entered the world in Genesis 3, the Lord set in motion our redemption and salvation in the same chapter. Jesus was promised the moment we were lost to offer hope and salvation. At Christmas we celebrate His arrival, the fulfilment of God’s promise! I am in awe!

Jesus! What a wonderful, amazing, and BEST gift!

Merry Christmas! Thank you for your faithful prayers for our girl!

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15