A Barbie and A Tiger

This weekend was a busy one! There was a Christmas Bazaar at my church where I sold things that I brought back from Kenya. I was able to raise $350 which will go towards The SKY Mission : ). It was an enjoyable time and I got to share about my African kiddos with many people who came through the bazaar to do their shopping. On Sunday, I had the blessing of speaking at two churches, one was my Nana's old church and then the other was its sister church about 15 minutes away.


But after looking at the title you might think: So what does a Barbie and a tiger have to do with the bazaar and church?


Well, the person next to me at the bazaar was selling her Barbies. She had a collection of Barbies that represented different countries around the world. She was setting up her Barbies on the table and that is when I saw her...KENYAN BARBIE!

I thought she was beautiful. I kept making her walk over to my table and look at my stuff. I talked Swahili with her. I've never been too fond of Barbies but she was different. Somebody from church saw my love for her and decided that she wanted to buy Kenyan Barbie for me. I think Kenyan Barbie will enjoy the children's home when I move to Kenya. I know its just a toy but that Barbie made my day. I will always be a kid at heart!

Now for the tiger! Don't worry...it was not a real tiger. This tiger was stuffed. At the second church I went to on Sunday, one of my old head start/IU kids was in attendance. I saw him last time I was there and was looking forward to seeing him again. This little guy was one of the first special needs kids I worked with. OH..and he sure made me work hard. He was quite a handful and often had choice words for me that were quite unpleasant. But I've been told I have special heart for the troublemakers and I guess that is true. This boy with his dark hair and dark eyes tried my patience but taught me a lot of things under fire. He will always be remembered by me.

So, like I said, he was at church. I gave my talk and then the pastor asked me to stand in the middle of the church to be prayed for. I was surrounded by the congregation with my little friend, now 7, right in the middle of the circle..closest to me. In his hands was a huge stuffed animal tiger. My friend observed that everybody was laying their hands on me to pray for me, so he took his tiger's soft paw and placed it on my hand to pray for me as well. It was precious. May not seem like a big moment to everyone reading this but it was just confirmation for me that I was on the right path. And also, I just so glad this little guy is hearing about Jesus...and that his family is as well.

So even though I am 27, two toys ended up being the highlight of my weekend!! Its the little things and often the random things that can mean a whole bunch.