Little Girl, Big Heart!

First I have to say that God gave me Kirstyn to do everything from test me to challenge me.  She is just as girly as they come making her very opposite from me.  I actually decorated her room in Raggedy Ann and Andy so that it would be primary colors and not pinks *sigh*.  At least she still loves it!  She is also very artsy fartsy...  I blame my sister for those genetics.  I mean, I have a degree in Software Engineering and Math while David has an MBA in Finance.  Kirstyn wants to grow up and be a rock star or a famous dancer and maybe a painter (yes we have been praying for her future husband since before she was born!).

At church we have started something called Imagine 320.  Eph 3:20 says, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us."  Essentially, it is a ministry initiative as our response to God's challenge to "throw off everything that hinders us"... and for our church that is debt that needs to be paid off!  I was selfishly sitting there thinking, God you will have to do this, especially in our lives.  We can barely pay our bills right now and when you add in my doctor co-pays and the $300 a month that I have to spend on prescriptions I just start to get frustrated with how tied down I feel by my cancer diagnosis!

Sunday, the guest pastor Dr. John Bisagno preached a challenging sermon about what growing churches are doing...  At the end, he had all of the Middle School and High School students stand up, then he did something unexpected.... He pulled out a huge stack of $5 bills and started handing one to each student!  He then paraphrased the parable from Matthew 25 and challenged the kids to turn that $5 into as much as possible and bring it back to the church (also with the promise of a prize from him for the teen with the biggest return). 
Kirstyn's ears perked up! 
She looked at me and said, "How much is yarn?"  I told her around $2. 
She said, "Will you give me $5 to turn into more?". 
I said, "Sure.  What's your plan?"
"I can buy yarn, crochet MeMe a scarf (she's had 2 lessons), and then sell it to her for $20...cause even if it isn't that great she will love it and buy it.  Then I will have $23 to bring back to church."
I said, "Great idea baby, and you sure know your MeMe."
*I could see the wheels spinning*
"And actually, I could buy more yarn and make another scarf and sell it to DeeDee!"

This smart girl that actually may grow up to do amazing things in the business world!  Either way, she is sure to make an ETERNAL impact for her Jesus!

I've been really praying about this and trying to think of some way to help her turn $5 into more without her spending 10+ hours making crochet scarfs...  I got on Pintrest on a Mission while she was at school yesterday!  I found a way for her to make scarfs out of old tshirts, fast and easy, and so far for free so she still has her first $5! 

Watch out friends.... soon she will be selling them!!!  (And we would love to take old tshirts off your hands if you have them!)  She is so excited and thinks it is just funny that we are cutting up Daddy's old undershirts!

I love how big her heart is.  I love how she is willing to take on any challenge without worrying at all about all the things that could go wrong in the process.  I love how she challenges me to not be so analytical and more creative!  I am so thankful that God uses my kid to humble me in the privacy of our home!

Back in November when Kirstyn turned 8, after a few discussions she decided that instead of just having a Birthday Party and getting presents from her friends like always, she wanted to change things up a bit.  (We did tell her she would have to get rid of many existing toys before she would have room for more...  I've already mentioned how much her grandparents love her!)  Her change....  She asked her friends to bring donations for the Weekend Backpack Ministry at our church!  Look at the haul of food that she got to donate!  This ministry feeds 86 elementary age children in SW Arlington! These kids have been identified by the counselors as only eating free breakfast/lunch at school but not on weekends. So they take home a backpack of food on Fridays that they return on Monday's. There are 6 children at the elementary Kirstyn attends (we have no idea who)... Food/money is ALWAYS needed to keep this ministry going! I'm so glad that she is 'getting' the bigger picture!!!

We serve a Big God and sometimes He uses my little girl to remind me just how amazing He can be when we allow Him to work through us!