Small Voices
July 24, 2008
Greetings, Prayer Team!
One tree, two swings, two small voices, one me: an instant, fresh, age-old dilemma.
“Aunt Heidi, swing me!”
For those of you who know my family, I should clarify that the two small voices did not come from a niece and nephew of blood relation. And yet their cry came urgently, expectantly, having every reason to believe I would answer. Little Girl had already discovered that Aunt Heidi pushes high, just like her daddy used to push her when she was a little girl, almost to contact between leaves and branches and little-girl bare toes. Little Boy is not far behind in this discovery, and I make a fresh, age-old decision: one now, one later.
It takes twice as much time to push two, but we’re just back from the creek where Little Girl and I caught one baby fish together and Little Boys caught multitudes more than that. (Of course we set them all free again.) Summer and Sabbath are upon us all at once, and I feel no rush.
Each fall, our schools face a similar, even more urgent dilemma. Small voices related to us by Christ’s blood, who need to be in our schools learning every day, struggle to be there or can’t be there because of finances. Their voices need an answer.
“The work that lies nearest to our church members is to become interested in our youth, with kindness, patience, and tenderness giving them line upon line, precept upon precept…There ought to be a large number who, as stewards of the grace of Christ, would feel not merely a casual interest but a special interest in the young.” (Counsels on Education p182)
We praise God for the multitude of you who do just that not only in your daily lives and local churches, but also in your finances. This summer, more than $100,000 total in KEEP Scholarships went out to schools all over our conference to begin the answer for our children. Even that much money doesn’t fix every dilemma, but by God’s grace and your generosity it makes a beautiful foundation.
On behalf of Patsy Wagner,
Heidi C. Corder
Assistant, Office of Philanthropy
