A farmer had some puppies to sell, so he painted a sign advertising 4 pups and nailed it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of little boy.

‘Mister,’ he said, ‘I want to buy one of your puppies.’ ‘Well,’ said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, ‘These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.’

The boy dropped his head for a moment, reached deep into his pocket, pulled out a handful of change, and held it up to the farmer.

‘I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?’ ‘Sure,’ said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. ‘Here, Dolly!’ he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly, followed by four little balls of fur.

The little boy pressed his face against the fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared. This one was noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then, in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.

‘I want that one,’ the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, ‘Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.’

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his pants, revealing a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe.

Looking back up at the farmer, he said, ‘You see sir, I don’t run very well myself, and he will need someone who understands.’ With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully, he handed it to the little boy.

‘How much?’ asked the little boy. ‘No charge,’ answered the farmer. ‘There’s no charge for love.’

The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

In our children’s worship lessons the past few weeks, our children have been discussing how God is a generous God and we need to show that generosity to others.

As a missions project of our Children’s/Family ministry, we put that generosity into practice by collecting toys at children’s worship this past weekend, then today we delivered those toys to an organization in town that provides things/food for people who need it.

I took 4 kids and 1 mom with me to deliver the toys. It was amazing to expose those young children to a missions adventure. It’s not very often that 5, 6, and 7 year olds can participate in a missions trip, but today in Middletown, Delaware, they did!

Praise God that they had the hearts to want to be involved in His work. It’s only the beginning for them.

You may have seen the Salvation Bead Bracelets. Here’s a Salvation Rock. You can use it to teach others to build their lives on a solid rock foundation, hard and stands up against almost anything.

Here’s what the colors mean …

Black: sin – We’ve all messed up and done wrong things.

Red: Jesus took our punishment for the wrong things; His blood washes our lives and hearts clean.

White: We are clean again. Thanks to Jesus.

Blue: We’re baptized in water to show we’ve been cleansed of our sins, wrong-doings.

Green: We continue to grow in our knowledge of the Bible and Christ, discipleship.

Gold/yellow: We will one day walk on streets of gold in Heaven.

How will you show love on Valentine’s day to those not involved in your church?

Our children have been studying about God’s generosity in children’s worship. This Saturday night each child is encouraged to bring a toy to church and we will distribute those toys to an organization in town that provides for families. Many times we do things for others at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we forget about other times of the year. Valentine’s day is a great time to show Christ’s love to others.

Maybe prepare lunch for the office staff at your child’s school and offer to answer the phones while they enjoy the lunch.

Maybe give gift certificates for a local restaurant to businesses in town.

The list of ideas is endless and can be a great way for your church to show they care and love people. Share your ideas with us.