He is here!

My Story of the Week!                                                                                    Feb ‘07

My brother is engaged to a first grade teacher at Erie Island School in the Buchtel district of Akron Public Schools.  She allows me to come to her class and read with her kids on Wednesdays.  Since it is a public school setting, I cannot talk about God.  I have been praying for God to be there even though we can’t use His name.  I have been there just a few times (3) so far.  We have learned to be kind, to not be lazy and to always tell the truth.  Last Wednesday was my fourth visit.  It was a makeup Valentines Party because of the snow days.  I was ready with my red shirt and even took my face paints to liven up the party.  When I got there, all of the children stood up at their desks and sang Happy Birthday to Miss Marie.  When they finished, two boys presented me with cupcakes and I shared.  It turns out that it was a dual-purpose party!

As I finished painting the last of the cheeks Mrs. Nic. (the teacher) put a stool in the middle of the classroom and had me sit in it.  She instructed the kids to all sit down.  It was time for the “real surprise”.  I sat and she gave me a gift to open.  It was a vase.  She told me to sit it on the floor because I would need to use it for the rest of the gift.  As she called each child to her desk she handed him a Hershey kiss and a Hershey hug to give to me.  She also gave each of them an envelope.  They handed me the candies and envelopes with such big smiles, it looked like they might burst!  I started opening the envelopes to find the best birthday gift ever.  Each envelope had a note from the child that said something like “Happy Birthday Miss Marie, Have fun in India, I hope you get to help a lot of people and make new friends.  Each envelope also had a five-dollar bill.

It turns out that Mrs. Nic and my brother had shared with the kids in the class that I would be going to India to help others.  Then, they gave the money that they were giving for support to the kids in $5 bills.  The kids spent the day learning about how to count by 5’s and about how nice it would be to help me to go to India so that I could “help others”.  The kids all agreed and they made cards. 

I could only open a few of them through my tears.  The rest I saved and got help opening later.  They donated $100.00!  One mother that was in the class at the time, got into her own purse and added another $5.00.  Isn’t it funny that even when we can’t use His name, He is there with us?  He can touch lives in all kinds of ways using the most unsuspecting people.  I know He is good, I just love it that He keeps showing me over and over and over!

Marie