Can it be that it is Back-to-School time again? As with any school year there are plans that must be made and challenges to face. When it was time for my own four children to start back to school, there were new shoes and jeans to buy. School fees and lunch money added up. Later, they needed cars and planes tickets as college took them far from home. It was a time that we needed to have some extra money. But extra money was as hard to come by then as it is now now. Fortunately for us, there were grandparents to help. Many families need a little help to get their students off for the new school year.

First Baptist Church of Arlington has tried to help some in our community. For the third year we are filling back packs provided by The Salvation Army and giving them out to Arlington students. This is an outreach to let people know that we want to help them. We have met many new people and a question they often ask is,” Why would your church do this?” Our answer comes quickly as we explain that we do it to show Christ’s love for them. Sometimes they look confused, but often their eyes fill with tears as they realize the church gives out the back packs, but they are really a gift from God. I think about the scripture about offering a cup of water in Jesus’ name. Here we are offering back packs in His name.

Our plan for this year was to fill 40 back packs, but when they were delivered there were 60 instead of 40. Did someone make a mistake or did God know how many were needed in Arlington? We accepted the challenge of the extra back packs and will have them ready to distribute next week. We praise God for this opportunity to serve others in His name.