Little is much when God is in it.

I've been wanting to share a story from Christmas Eve on my blog, and I keep forgetting to.  I know it's past the holiday season, but one of the most moving parts of Christmas for me was a reminder that God is always working, even when we don't realize it.

On Christmas Eve we went to our church for the 5:30 service.  We intended to sit with some friends, but they ended up moving because some more of their family showed up.  Instead, I sat next to a lady I had never met before.  I was a little nervous about having both kids in the service, what with their being young and, well, LOUD!  And then someone came up and asked David if he could help with the offering, which meant standing in the back for about half of the service. (Sidenote:  please don't get me started about how inappropriate I thought an offering was at a Christmas Eve service.  I'm choosing not to think about it!)

Needless to say, my nervousness about the kiddos acting up heightened greatly.  There I was with both of my kids, no husband, a "quiet" Christmas Eve service planned, and strangers next to us.

Gulp.

Overall, the kids were pretty good.  Noel drew, wrote his name, and kept himself busy for the most part.  But Elise got antsy.  She was talking, waving, clapping, you name it.  And for some reason, she kept leaning over to the lady next to me, talking to her and trying to take her candle.  The lady was really kind and played with her numerous times throughout the service.  After David came back he ended up having to take Elise to the back for a little bit, but it was nothing too traumatic.

After the service, I introduced myself to the lady sitting next to us and apologized for Elise being such a distraction.  And then she told me that it was the best thing that could have ever happened to her.  She had just lost her father a few weeks prior and was having a really hard time with the season.  She said entertaining Elise was such a joy for her.  And I realized how God moves in ways we never even know about.  He knew before we even walked into church that night that there was a woman struggling, hurting, mourning, who needed to be given a gift.  He knew that my daughter, who is crazy and funny and loud and stubborn could be that gift for an hour.

Thank you, God, for using all of us, your little children, to be Your light, Your love, Your joy to a weary world.