This is not a person whom I would have ever expected to influence my life, but she did and I am so glad she did!

    I want to tell you a story of a little girl that changed my life! I had been going to Mountain View Baptist Church in Hagerstown, Maryland for over two years and one day, the pastor’s wife approached me about riding the buses every Sunday to pick up children and adults that wanted to come to church. All I could think about were dirty little kids, who hadn’t bathed and couldn’t offer me anything by me going to pick them up. What a horrible attitude I know, but I agreed to go one Sunday because I respected the Pastor’s wife.

adparams.getadspec(’c_billboard1′); HELAD_gen_google_custom(adparams, “c_billboard1″, “text_image”, “banner”, 300, 250); #ada1{ text-align:left; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-size:16px; font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; overflow:hidden } #ada1 a:link, #ada1 a:visited, #ada1 a:hover, #ada1 a:active{ color:#000066; } #ada1 div div{ margin:0px 0px 16px 0px; overflow:hidden } #ada1 div div div{ margin:1px 0px 1px 0px } #ada{ text-align:left; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-size:14px; font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; overflow:hidden } #ada a:link, #ada a:visited, #ada a:hover, #ada a:active{ color:#000066; } #ada div div{ margin:0px 0px 16px 0px; overflow:hidden } #ada div div div{ margin:1px 0px 1px 0px }

    Sunday came and I found myself riding on a bus to a project in the area. I can recall seeing the houses and the kids and thinking what am I doing here. One by one, kids began boarding the bus and all I could think was “please don’t let them sit by me.” We were almost to the end of the project and a little girl got on the bus and what do you know she sat right next to me. I could smell a stench from her coat and it appeared she was not as clean as I would think she should be. She said hello and I replied hello back to her. She asked me my name and I said my name quickly and turned to look back out the window. Every ten seconds, she would ask me something and grudgingly, I would answer. About the time we pulled up to the church, she kissed me on the cheek and said “I Love You Daddy.” That statement has rung in my head for ten years and when I found out she had no father, I about lost control of my emotions. That little girl is everything in the world to me and ever since that day, I have worked on a bus route picking up kids just like her.

     Every week that I go to pick up children, I go to be a help to them and every week, I find the real truth that they are a help to me. This little girl, who I will not reveal her name because of privacy, has influenced the course of my life in this area. I thank God for her!

hide

$(’socialIcons’).hide();