Lasting Impressions

The interesting thing about blogging is the fact sometimes you get an idea, but don't have the time to actually get it developed into an entry.  In my world, when this happens, I generally find a scrap of paper or sticky note and jot down what I think would be an appropriate title.  This is supposed to remind me, at a later time, of the full blog message I had in mind.

Factoring in I am now over 60, there are times I come across one of these notes and have no recollection of what it was I was going to write about.  Such was the case when I noticed the words "Lasting Impressions" scribbled on a small piece of paper and left next to my computer.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't come up with a story to go with the words. . .until tonight.

Our church has had a ministry to kids for as long as I can remember.  When my husband and I were first married, we called it "Children's Church."  This eventually turned into a program known as Missionettes for girls and Royal Rangers for boys, and several years ago we took on the AWANA program for teaching the kids.

Tonight was our "kick-off" event, which brought out around 50 kids ranging in age from about three on through high school.  I did see some adults who seemed to be having a pretty good time, too.  A church from Minot, ND has a ministry where they provide inflatables at these type of events, so we blocked off the street in front of our church and let the kids loose!  There were also fun treats like cotton candy, snow cones, and popcorn, as well as visits from the police, ambulance, and fire trucks.  Needless to say, there were lots of smiling faces!

 

So, what does this all have to do with my note?  As it turned out, when we came home, my husband decided to install a couple of hooks to hang my ironing board in our recently created laundry room.  While he was doing this, I downloaded pictures of the kick-off night from my camera to share on our church's Facebook page.  And there it was. . .the picture which inspired the "Lasting Impressions" note.

You see, I had purchased a new ironing board cover, and prior to throwing the old one I had to take a picture of it.  There was the outline of part of  a daisy seared into the old cover, reminiscent of the days I taught the "Daisies" group in the Missionette program.  The girls in this group were kindergarten aged, and at some point a daisy emblem ended up making a "lasting impression" on my ironing board cover.

My mind went back in time and I thought about the many children I had taught Bible stories to over the years.  Some have grown up and have children of their own.  In fact, one of these "second generation" kids was part of our group tonight!  I found myself wondering if I had left any "lasting impressions" on the hearts of these children.  For sure, the seeds were planted.  Someone will water them, and God will bring forth the growth!  Is it worth the effort?  You bet it is!  Eternally worth it!!