Herb's Bucket...



Herb's Bucket, hanging on our fence

  When my husband and I moved into our new home, we noticed a wonderful garden next door, filled with beautiful flowers and healthy vegetables. Our neighbor, Herb, was a master gardener and more than that, he was generous. Herb hung a bucket over the fence that separated our back yards and as he quietly worked in his garden, he would fill our bucket with wonderful things. One day it was tomatoes, the next, zucchini. One day it was cucumbers, the next, fresh beets. We never saw Herb filling our bucket, but the evidence of his presence was undeniable.
One day as I emptied that bucket, I thought about what would happen if I forgot that his bucket was there, or perhaps became too lazy to empty it.... how the vegetables would rot away and be of no use, how Herb would be hurt because he was not able to fill that bucket again. 
Maybe God is like Herb...  working quietly in the gardens of our lives, filling our buckets with gifts and skills that he wants us to use. Has God given you a gift that you are not using? As we step into this New Year in our Children's Ministry, as we prayerfully make our plans and as we set our goals, let's be sure to use every single gift, every single skill and every single talent that God has given to us..... let's be sure to empty and use what is in our buckets, so that God can fill them up again.
Everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Matthew 25:28
http://ministry-to-children.com/childrens-ministry-vision/