I have loved this sermon series on how we are God’s Canvas. Stacy’s jar demonstration was amazing! If you missed out, she broke a clay jar, and during the sermon it was glued back together. Then she put a light in it, and the light shined through the cracks. She used that as an example of how God can use our brokenness to show His light. It was such a powerful example of how God can use us, no matter what mistakes we have made in our past.

And then this past week, Mark talked about how we often only think of our own prayers, but we have to remember that God is listening to billions of prayers! It is easy to focus on “why isn’t God answering my prayer?” But we really need to stop and think about how God IS answering all of the BILLIONS of prayers, just in a way that makes sense to Him, because He is the only one who can see it all.

I was really glad I heard that sermon. This week, we found out that one or our closest family friends was diagnosed with a fast moving cancer. This hit my family especially hard, as my Dad passed away from cancer a little over a year ago, and my grandfather also died from cancer 3 years ago. I was definitely feeling like our family could not take any more loss to cancer. I know God hears my prayers, can’t he hear how desperate we are?

But after talking to my friend who actually has cancer, I felt completely guilty. She is at peace. She knows that she has a hard road ahead of her, with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and even after all of that, there are no guarantees of what will happen. But she is at peace. She knows that God has chosen this path for her, and she wants to be a light to everyone she meets.

God has given her a scary path, but she is filled with peace, and even excitement for what God can do through her life to reach others. No matter what the canvas of my life brings, I hope that I can trust that God can and will use my experiences to show His light.

Christie Crowe
School-Age Kids! Director