“We have seen Steven Curtis Chapman in concert several times. We always donate money at the concert to Show Hope, but it ends there. This past March or April, when we left the concert something was different. Melody was different. God had gotten a hold of that little girl’s heart. She was brokenhearted for the orphans. At the concert, she asked us to get her the Show Hope bucket and bag for her to get started helping the orphans, and we did, not thinking it would amount to much. For about a week, she would cry when she prayed for the orphans every night. When I would tuck her in at night, she would tell me, “Momma, did you know that some orphans don’t have moms or dads to tuck them in at night? Did you know some orphans don’t even have a bed to sleep in at night? Did you know that when some kids have a nightmare at night, when they call out for help, no one comes to hug them and make them feel safe?” All of a sudden, those things she had always taken for granted became huge blessings. She would kiss me over and over, and say, “Thank you for reading me Jesus stories, Momma,” or, “Thank you for letting me sit in your lap, and for listening to me read.” Those things are not a big deal, or never had been to her before. Now, all of a sudden, she began to look at things from the perspective of an orphan, and she began to think about how thankful they would be for those things. Along with that, came other feelings. One night, she cried and just felt so bad because God had blessed her so much and those kids had so little. She felt guilty and she questioned God. “Why would God bless me by giving me a house to live in, a warm bed to sleep in, parents to love me and read me Jesus stories, and plenty of food to eat, and not give the orphans much of anything? It’s not fair. I feel bad about being happy when they are sad.” I told her I don’t think God would want her to feel guilty about Him blessing her, but that when God blessed us, it’s because He trusts us to share those blessings with other people.

She was already saving her coins for the orphans, using her meager allowance for emptying trash and taking dirty clothes to the laundry room for the cause; but she wanted to do more. So we began to pray that God would show us what a (then) 6-year-old could do to raise a significant amount of money. She told me God had shown her that she was going to raise $500 on her own, and that we (meaning, God was going to use her to influence other Christians in our area, the body of Christ) are going to raise $5,000. I didn’t want to see her discouraged or disappointed. That was an awfully big goal for such a little girl. I started to suggest we try to raise $500 as a group, or maybe $1,000. God quickly convicted me. He told me I had a choice–I could give into my fear and talk her into setting the goal lower … or I can exercise trust in God, to encourage and empower Melody to do what God has called her to do, and allow her to see God can take her little and make it much; and in doing so, allow her to learn a life lesson, that with God all things are possible.

Melody, although she could have, did not just ask for donations. Instead, she would ask people if she could clean something, pick up sticks, or do some kind of work to raise money for the orphans. We were praying God would show us something she could do. The answer came when she called her grandma and said, “Grandma, I am raising money for orphans. Is there anything I can do for you to get money to help them?” Grandma told her she could make a cobbler, asking Melody to go ask her mom to help. So, we tried it and sure enough, she could do everything except put it in and out of the oven, thus, started a new ministry. She made cobblers for $15 each! Melody didn’t look at it from our perspective. She looked at it from the perspective of a child, of the orphan. She would always say, “I want to raise money to help an orphan buy parents.” It was that simple.

The thing that spoke to me the most, though, was one reading of my adult Bible studies. Melody wanted to lay with me and listen to me read, so we kind of made it her devotion, too. I ended by asking her if there was any area of her life in which she was selfish and encouraged her that when she got into her own bed tonight to ask God if she was holding back any area of her life God wanted to use. We work with youth, so I was expecting her to forget it and never discuss thechallenge again. The next morning, when Melody got up, she came to me with her piggy bank. Melody had been saving her money for a long time to take our whole family out for a movie night. My girls love to go to movies, but it is something we only do about three times a year because of the expense. Melody said God showed her orphans need parents a lot more than we needed a night at the movies. Tears filled my eyes when I realized my daughter heard from God. And didn’t just hear, but obeyed. My husband is a youth minister, and Melody and I spoke to the youth one night; she quoted the verse she had memorized to explain why she was doing this. She said if they wanted to please God, they needed to find their ministry in helping widows or orphans. Some of the youth have since helped do some work for widows in the church. Some put in what change they had to help Melody’s ministry for orphans. One young man, who doesn’t have a job, came back the next week, having gotten permission from his mom to give $10 from his college fund. This is money he had saved from birthday gifts and mowing yards. His mom said, “I offered to donate $10 instead of him giving his own money, but he said, ‘No. Melody is raising this money on her own and she just turned 7. I want to sacrifice, too.'” Another young lady in our youth group would call us every couple of weeks to say she left something for Melody in the mailbox. It would be a sandwich baggy of change she had saved for Show Hope. My other daughters began to help make cobblers when our orders were too many for Melody to do alone. We didn’t have to ask them; they wanted to play a role in this. They wanted to make a difference.

After recently meeting one of the little girls who had been adopted with assistance from Shaohannah’s Hope, I think Melody is more fired up than ever to be used by God to share her blessings and allow God to take her little and make it much! Don’t forget to send another bag, and a bucket if you don’t mind.