We praise the Lord for the many new friendships that God is forming and especially for a recent time we had with friends from the Middle East, trying homemade stuffed grape leaves, Chinese food and building stronger friendships.
They are a sweet and loving family and I want to be clear, they are sincerely our friends. We get the privilege of making new friends and sharing the love of Jesus. It is not our duty but is our honor.
During our time at the park, some of our kids and the father played soccer with other kids as well as playing tag. We also introduced the game where you place an Oreo on your forehead and try to “jiggle” it into your mouth without your hands – this was especially popular! We celebrated our daughter’s birthday and shared a cake that our friends brought. We found frogs and fish and laughed together.
While walking along the pond area, all of our kids started to yell in excitement and began pointing. We rushed over to learn that they saw a large, brightly colored fin come out of the water and swim quickly across the pond. Although we parents did not get to see this amazing sea creature at the Botanical Gardens, we did get to experience a determined set of kids seeking to prove to us that they were not making this up but truly saw this large, brightly colored fin!
On another note, a highlight for me was when I shared about how Jesus fed the 5,000. The father shared that they had this story too, however when I proceeded to finish the story and then share how Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life, he was surprised to hear this. Though this was a brief part of our time together, this reminded me of the importance of learning and sharing Bible stories as a way to introduce a true understanding of who Jesus is and what the Bible says while also learning about what stories they have and how they are different.
While no light from the sky came down, a small Gospel seed was planted. One plants, one waters but God gives the growth. Please pray that God continue to grow our friendship and that He give growth to the Gospel seeds that are planted.
P.S. Us parents never did get to see this amazing sea creature…maybe next time?
Turners at WFI 