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Thursday, November 01, 2007

My Heart is so full on halloween night!

What a great night!

First a little history...after I gave my life to Christ 8+ years ago, one of the issues He dealt with me on was how I would spend halloween.

I thought we'd just turn the lights off and leave for the night..but God had other plans. He led us to purchase Bibles for the kids, and to give them out on halloween night.

And, it was clear that we were to get neat Bibles that the kids would be excited to receive. ( or so we hoped! )

We were amazed that year by the responses of all but one of the children. The kids were thrilled! One little boy who lived in a million dollar home, left our front yard saying,
"Dad! Look! They gave me my very own Bible!"

The next few years were no exception. We had children coming to the door, while their parents waited patiently at the street, asking, "Is THIS where I can get a Bible?!".

One mom even came to the door, and led me outside to show me a group of teenagers all huddled in the street reading their Bibles at that very minute!

One young man, about 17, came to get one for his 7 year old brother and when he did I asked him if he had a Bible of his own, he answered, "No, Ma'am".

"Would you like one?"

"Yes. Ma'am."

"Well, we just gave out our last Teen Bible, but if you'll give us your name and address, we'll get you one and send it to you."

So...we ended up getting one for him and had his name put on it, and delivered it to his home instead. When I handed it to him, there were tears in his eyes. He said, "I can't believe you did this for me!"

Which, was a perfect opportunity to share with him what God had done for all of us through His Son, the Messiah.

I was blown away that this big teenage boy was so happy to have a Bible, that his eyes were filled with tears!

I mean, we live in America! One would think that if a kid wanted a Bible, they'd have one....but we've been proven wrong on that 4 times now.

Tonight, there was a huge group of kids who came to the door just as the night was winding down. We had a stack of about 8 Teen Study Bibles left, which we were holding for our neighbor kids. However, when we saw that group of kids, we knew that God had sent them to our door, and that the numbers had worked out exactly for those remaining Bibles to be theirs instead!

I couldn't believe it as the kids all were pushing to be first, and were saying, "I want one!". "I want one too!".

Then, one young man stepped out from the group and came toward me and said, in the kindest voice..."Do you know how amazing this is, what you're doing for kids?!". "This is just awesome."

I so wanted to say something intelligent, but knew that I'd burst out crying if I said much more than, "Praise God!".

Every year that we've done this, I expect to be met with hatred and guile. Yet, that has not happened once.

Kids aren't disappointed that they didn't get a candy bar. They RUN down the sidewalk, anxious to tell their parents that someone gave them a Bible.

I guess that even at a young age, children know when someone has done something caring for them.

What a blessing to have been able to do this. We couldn't have given out anywhere NEAR as many Bibles tonight if it weren't for the owner of Pathways Christian Bookstore here in Anthem. The owner really went to bat for us with the publisher, and saved us a TON of money.

Go see her, won't you..and support her business. It's really a wonderful ministry for our community.

Bibles for halloween ?

Sure has ended up being a rich blessing to our family..and hopefully, to all of those who have received one over the years.

Maybe the Lord will lead your family to do the same next year. If He does, please let us know. We'd love to be in prayer with you about it.

Remember, the Lord promises that His Word will not return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it! :)

Isaiah 55:10-11
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

In Him,
Jes

3 comments:

Laura said...

Yay for Bibles! Maybe we'll have to join in next year.

I'm so blessed to have you as my friend and I'm so encouraged by the response you had again in this mission for your neighborhood. God has a mighty plan for your family there, keep it up and I'll keep praying for you all...

Ordinary Girl said...

Great idea! I just tweeted and facebooked it :) Nicole Given <"><

Anonymous said...

That is wonderful!

For those who do not have the resources or perhaps the time to acquire Bibles to distribute on Halloween this year, there is a site that provides a free printable Halloween Bible tract: http://thefaithfulword.org/redeeminghalloween.html

Blessings.