When I got my envelope and opened it and found ten dollars. What to do with ten dollars? I knew this day was coming and I thought I would have an idea by now, but I didn’t. I thought and prayed for a week and still had no answer. One night I sat with my daughters at the kitchen table and asked if they had any ideas. Olivia, my five year old, said, “How about we buy toys for kids who don’t have any.” That was when we decided to help Reelfoot Rural Ministries Christmas Toy Store.
I got the idea from the video shown in church and created a blog online and started raising money there. I also promised to match with the $200.00 I had been saving from working on people’s computers. Olivia and Emma sold popcorn and lemonade at the mission market, Rhonda made prayer beads for sale, and I offered gift certificates towards computer tutoring.
We were able to raise $561.75. The original $10 dollars help pay the transaction fees from the online giving. I went to Big Lots and told them our story and they gave us a discount on the total purchase. We were able to fill four shopping carts with toys to take to Reelfoot.
The one thought I had over and over is how easy it was to give of myself once I let it all belong to God and this is just another “exercise” to help strengthen my “generosity” muscles. Another joy I had was seeing the joy and excitement my daughters had during this project. From the raising of money and buying of the toys, to the trip to Reelfoot and giving it all to them, Olivia and Emma really enjoyed the whole process.
A sales associate said, “It looks like someone is going to get a lot toys.” Olivia quickly responded back with a smile on her face, “Yeah, it is for kids who don’t have any.” In that moment I saw God.
Scott, Rhonda, Olivia, and Emma
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