Five years ago this month, our family moved to Long Island so my husband could pastor a church here. Because I love books so much and have a lending library for other families, one of the first things I did after moving here was to find the library book sales available on the island. One of the first I found was the East Islip library sale. Pay your $10 and you are given a nice canvas bag to fill with as many books as you can! Yeah!!! Fun for me! I started through the children's section and began filling my bag with books. As I was doing this, a mom holding a little boy came up to me and asked for some help. "You look like you know what you are doing? Could you help me pick out some good books for my children?" We chatted a little bit and it didn't take long to realize that we were both Christians and that we both loved books. This day began a friendship with Michelle. One link in the chain!
Michelle began attending our church when she could. She was caring for her elderly, very sick, father in her home so could not come to church very often. But we kept touch and shared books back and forth. Two years ago, Michelle met a dear older lady at a library near her home and told her about our church. Lillian was searching for a church that really opened the Bible. She had a willing heart to learn and began attending our church and our ladies' Bible study. She had genuine questions and slowly God's Spirit began to help her see her need for salvation through Christ alone. Lillian came to know Christ as her Savior and soon after, was baptized and joined our church. Another link in the chain!
Michelle's father died and she was released from the responsibility of caring for him on an hourly basis. Now she began attending our church with her five children regularly. And last Sunday, she was baptized. She invited many family members and friends to the baptism. Now God is using this dear lady to reach out to another young mom who is now reading and learning from the Bible. The chain continues!
Watching this chain grow has been joy to my heart.
