A Month of Thankfulness: Day 12

Day 12....I'm thankful to get to be a part of our church's bus ministry.

Last month our church celebrated the 17th anniversary of having a bus ministry. Through the years we have had big school buses and we've had vans. We've had grownups, big kids, little kids, and babies ride. At one time there were kids coming from New Albany, Myrtle, Hickory Flat, Blue Mountain and Potts Camp. But now we only have one van route active so we don't have that many. My husband Benny drives the van and sometimes he does have so many kids that he has to make a second trip to be able to pick up all of them

The bus ministry isn't for every church or for every person I guess. But for Benny and me it's been a real blessing in our lives. As we get to know these people better it's amazing how attached we become to them. Some of the kids still don't know our names. But when we go out each week to visit them I sometimes hear them shout to someone in a back room..."The church folks are here!" lol

Although we do have a few adults that are faithful to come on the van, most of our riders are children. We have several that have been coming for years. Then we have others that move into town, ride the van for a few weeks and then they're gone to live somewhere else. Sometimes we only have a short little window to take them to church so the teachers can plant seeds of the gospel in their young minds. Please help us pray that these seeds will take root and help these children to come to know the most important thing they'll ever learn....that Jesus Christ came to earth and died for their sins so that they can live with him forever in heaven!

Last summer after doing some shopping in Walmart, I was sitting on a bench out in the foyer waiting for Benny (who had been somewhere else) to come and pick me up. I saw three tall teenaged boys walking in the door but didn't think anything about it until one of them started walking towards me. He had a big smile on his face and the first thing he said was ,"Do you remember me?" I remembered that smile but not his name. He had been in my Sunday school class of 1st-3rd graders ten or more years ago and still remembered me. He gave me a big hug before he went on his way into Walmart with his friends. What a blessing that was!

"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Luke 18:16

God bless you!

Marilyn