Upside-Down Living

They were here for a weekend in October to make a presentation and show a documentary to our church about their ministry.  The colors of fall were in full blaze of orange, yellow and spotted with red, this valley of maples, elms and birch – the glory of the Lord all around.

I was dumbfounded, speechless and in awe of our Lord and the work of His hands in all of it.  And so was she - young but growing up quickly; beautiful outside and in; petite in her build but big in heart.  She is my 13 year old.   Touched, broken and wanting to do something.

She breaks the silence one day shortly after the presentation with, “I want to put a table in the market again this year.”  “Ah-huh”, I respond half-heartedly.  She’s had a table in the Christmas market for the last two years selling jewellery she makes to earn enough for her Christmas giving, so this is not new.  

“I want to sell my pictures, the scenery ones, and sell tickets on a gift basket.  And give the money to Sixty Feet.”

“Oh.  Wow.” Why was I surprised? She amazes me continuously. I should really not have been surprised.

She didn’t know when she snapped these pictures that they would help a build a home for desperate children in Uganda. 

She didn’t know when she captured God’s gift of sunrise one morning as she stood waiting for the school bus, as new mercies burst through the cold morning mist that it would provide.  Hope.

And so she put it together.  Chose the pictures, sent them to be printed (which, because of a special promotion, were FREE – how God blesses those who sacrifice), and we worked together to turn them into cards.  And she gathered items and donations for a gift basket, made tickets, posters, print-outs, signs, and more. 

And she also made gift jars of hot chocolate to sell – this portion would be her Christmas money.

Yesterday was the day.  The sunrise splattered fiery red across heavy clouds this November morning.  We committed it all to the Lord, and away we went. 

She sold a lot of the cards, tickets, and even a few jars of hot chocolate.  She spoke to the inquirers.  She told the story.  And some of the listeners were touched; by the story of abandoned children in Uganda; by a teenager reaching out to help them from this small, insignificant place so far from the poverty; by a girl in the “me” generation living upside-down.

The cash didn’t roll in, more like trickled.  But it added up over the morning.  To just the right amount.  A small offering toward a huge project.  No building will be built or bought solely on the sales of this day.  A few bricks may be laid.  But the Lord has already doubled it with the current matching fund for the Sixty Feet building project.  And so a few multiplies.  In the hands that can, when given in love.

It was committed to Him.  For His glory.  Offered in faith, all she could give. 

And I watch.  Transformation.  Awed at the work of the potter, shaping, forming this young heart.

I stand amazed at it all.  And give Him all the praise.

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  2 Chron. 16:9