The Big D Word

The Big D word; it’s the word no child wants to hear, but the word more and more are hearing every day: Divorce. It happened to my parents when I was 4 years old and it had a negative effect on my life. Before the divorce, I was a daddy’s girl. I loved spending time with my dad, and he was my hero. After the divorce, he became an ‘every other weekend dad’, and wasn’t available as often. In many ways, my mom became my mom and dad. But because my mom was busy working and supporting her family of 4 children, there was not often time for church. Thankfully our next door neighbors started taking us to church. While at church, seeds of life were planted in my life and even though I have gone through many ups and downs in my faith, the seeds that were planted and watered long ago by church volunteers have remained. The Bible says, in proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Because there were volunteers from church in my life that trained me up in the way I should go, as I got older, I did not depart from it, I grew closer to God. I may have strayed along the way, but in the end, I came back to the only truth that mattered in my life.

So what does my story have to do with you as a volunteer? Well here at VFC, we exist so people get it! People include the children we serve! We want to see children ‘get’ that God loves them! Whether you volunteer at Valley Family Church or you are volunteering at another church, every time you serve you are coming into contact with kids just like I was. Most of the kids we are serving are lost and hurting, they are looking for love and acceptance, and they may be acting out for attention.  As a volunteer we may never know what each child’s home life is like. So many children are living in a single parent home, and they need seeds of life planted in their life. As volunteers we get to do that every time we serve. We get to be the love of Jesus to each child that comes into our classrooms. You don’t have to be the volunteer giving the message or Bible Story to plant a seed; all you have to do is be the love of Jesus! Every time you serve and you take the time to talk to a child, play with a child or just give them that welcoming hug, you are sharing God’s love with them. You are training them in the way they should go, and when they are older, they will not depart from it! Be encouraged knowing that every time you serve in a kid’s classroom you are planting seeds and showing children how much God loves them no matter what is happening at home!

- Jodi