Faith First-Little Miracles – Our Story #1
I remember exactly where I was sitting and what I was doing when the idea for Girls of Faith first popped into my head. I was sitting on the floor of my baby’s room nursing her while her older sister, who was also still a baby, sat a few feet from me playing with a toy.
With my two youngest daughters being so young and close in age, I was in the stage of motherhood in which I was constantly busy changing diapers, feeding, cleaning up messes, etc., but still felt like I had so much time on my hands mentally and intellectually. My mind ran away with me often, conjuring up all kinds of ideas. I daydreamed about starting a ministry called His Hands that would collect donations to help pay the monthly bills (electric, car, mortgage…) of people who were down and out for whatever reason. I knew of a member of our church who was out of work because of epilepsy. He couldn’t drive safely because his medicine was failing to work, so he was unable to bring in a pay check. I pictured myself going around to local churches, explaining our mission, and taking up love offerings to help families like this one.
Another idea was to create a community challenge in which teams would race around a particular town, completing various challenges. Many of the challenges would take place at community service locations, like homeless shelters, pregnancy crisis centers, etc. The point would be to highlight these ministries in a fun way that would bring more awareness about their services to the community. I still daydream about that one sometimes. 🙂
So, that particular day the thought came to me, “It would be cool to have a line of dolls that came with Christian stories!” I thought the first four dolls could be based on my oldest daughter and her three friends that she had grown up with. The dolls could look similar to these four girls and the storylines could be based on a strong character trait each girl had. I let that grow in my mind for a while, then moved on to the next dirty diaper.
One evening, almost two years later, I went out for dessert with a girlfriend. As we chatted, somehow a topic came up that made me think of the doll idea. I shared it with her and she immediately said I should go for it. She felt like there would be a huge number of families who would be interested in such a product. That’s all it took!! The power of an encouraging word!
Has anyone ever given you an encouraging word? Do you encourage others to step out in faith and do big things? Are we encouraging our children with positive words that will make them believe all things are possible with God?
The Bible has a lot to say about the words we speak to each other. Consider these verses today as you try to choose your words carefully.
Matthew 12:37
“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (NKJV)
“Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.” (Message)
Proverbs 16:24
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” (NKJV)
Ephesians 4:29
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (NIV)
