We prayed for sunshine and God sent it.
Last weekend, our church hosted an Easter egg hunt at our new church location. The church itself is fourteen years old, but has moved around from place to place until landing at our new permanent address. We moved less than ten miles from where we were, but we crossed a county line.
We went from our not very diverse, conservative community to an incredibly diverse college town. The entire congregation voted on it and it became very obvious through prayer, that God wanted us in our new place. So, we went, not knowing what to expect, but open to God’s call.
Several months ago, I pitched the idea of an Easter egg hunt and everyone was on board. We decided months ahead that we would do it the Saturday before Palm Sunday instead of the Saturday before Easter.
A couple of weeks before, my pastor’s wife, who is one of my favorite people on the planet, asked me at choir practice, what my backup rain plans were. I informed her that it would not rain and I asked her to pray for sunny weather. She said she would.
It was amazing to see my little church come together on the preparations. Somebody ordered the eggs. Somebody different ordered the candy and toys to go in the eggs. The ladies group stuffed the eggs. A different person bought cookies and prizes. Another lady made lemonade. A different crew hid the eggs.
All week long, the weather forecast looked terrible. At first it was going to be cold and rainy. Then it was going to be warm with thunderstorms. When I last looked, the storms were going to roll in at hunting time.
Anytime I was asked what needed to be done for the hunt, I replied prayers for nice weather. Saturday began cool and cloudy, but I wasn’t concerned.
I have learned through years of planning children’s ministry events, that when we are doing God’s work for kids, He intervenes. I reasoned that if the Maker of heaven and earth wanted to use our little outreach to plant some seeds, the weather would not be a problem.
Not surprisingly, the afternoon turned out to be truly stunning. There was a light breeze and the sun was out. Two hours before we started, a family pulled through the lot to ask us about the hunt. We told them and welcomed them to come back.
At start time, we had five families of multiple nationalities who we had never met before, along with a few others, as well as church members. There are few things more precious than laughing, excited children, hunting Easter eggs and I was reminded of the song from my childhood, “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” though politically incorrect now, I’m sure, the meaning behind it still rings true.
Jesus loves children of all colors and nationalities and when we make an effort to reach out to them and plant seeds, well, it’s always wise to expect Divine intervention. We invited them to church and to our summer Vacation Bible School.
I can’t wait to see what God will do with that ministry. One thing is for sure, as long as we continue to pray about it, we can expect to see big things.
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂