"Sometimes while I'm talking to God, He'll show me something about myself in such a way that I have to laugh at my own humanity and how funny I must look to Him." - Donna

Donna...just found your blog...I absolutely love it! And I love your singing! I'm at work right now and it was just exactly what I needed to hear to help me make it through tonight! Thanks for your ministry here!
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Témoignage



Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:27-28 (New King James Version)

I couldn’t wait to get to Sunday School. My teacher, a lovely, gentle woman, shared the most wonderful stories with us each week. And we got to do a craft, a puzzle, or a coloring page.

So what if I’d been made fun of? When we studied the Beatitudes, and the teacher asked what we thought Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” I didn’t know what ‘righteousness’ was, but it sounded to me like we’d never be thirty or hungry anymore. This sounded like a wonderful thing to a nine-year-old girl, the oldest of five children, whose pantries never held an abundance of food or drink. The older children in the group laughed, but my teacher patiently explained that this hunger wasn’t a physical hunger, but a spiritual one.

That experience opened my eyes to the spiritual realm. Something existed beyond me? A great revelation for a child.

The next week, I skipped into class and stopped dead short. “Where’s my teacher?” I almost cried on the spot. I’ll never know why she didn’t come, but I do know that we had a substitute, and a man at that! What was HE doing in here?

He probably wondered the same thing. That morning he taught us the basics. What does it mean to be ‘saved’? He talked about heaven, and what Jesus had sacrificed so that I could spend eternity in such a wonderful place.

That morning at the end of our church service, I ran down the aisle to the altar, kneeling, and committing my life to Jesus Christ. When I stood up and turned around, my dad was right behind me crying – one of the only times I’ve ever seen him cry.

I’ve thought many times about that teacher. In hindsight, I realize the Superintendent had probably drafted him that morning, for he did not have a lesson prepared. He could have thrown together a haphazard lesson, reading from the book or passing out crayons and papers. But he allowed the Holy Spirit to direct him to share the simple, yet profound plan of salvation. Because he obeyed, my spiritual eyes were opened.

In what way will you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you today?

Prayer: God, help me to be sensitive to Your leading that I might be instrumental in leading others to You. Thank You for the people in my lifetime who have allowed You to lead them in a way that impacted my life in a positive and eternal way. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

Donna J. Shepherd © 2006 All rights reserved. No portion of this Website and no column may be reproduced BY ANYONE without WRITTEN permission BY DONNA. For more information, contact Donna by clicking on the link in the right-hand column. Thanks.

5 comments:

Maxine said...

Nice Donna.
This is such a wonderful reminder to those of us who have been teaching Sunday school for many years. We never know on what particular day or with what particular child the Lord will use us. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Maxine

Donna J. Shepherd said...

Yes! We never know. I talk to the teachers and children's ministers in my church frequently about my testimony to remind them of that very fact. The most ornery boy or girl in class might be a great theologian one day teaching many more than we could ever dream of, or preaching to thousands.

Thanks for stopping by, Maxine!

Anonymous said...

A good reminder that we never know when the Holy Spirit is going to use us when we meet people and talk with them. I remember a very 'naughty' boy in our Sunday School and the minister's wife said 'you never know that boy might grow up to be a missionary someday, keep praying for him. He did grow up to be a missionary. Oh btw you will never be 30 Donna.
Glennys

Anonymous said...

Donna, what a beautiful testimony! I love learning about how the Holy Spirit can work in a person's life. Your substitute SS teacher was certainly doing the work of our Father. {{Hugs}}

batgirl said...

Just stumbled upon your site. Loved reading your testimony. A good reminder that it isn't us or how grand our efforts are, but how the Holy Spirit works through our feeble attempts and does great things. God bless!

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