When will the fighting stop?  It’s so dark out here. The young girl stood outside, so scared, locked out of the house in the cold, the crying coming from her Mom shattered the quiet on the back porch.  As she clung to her Mom’s slip, she gazed up at the stars and clouds and a question entered her mind she would never forget….is God real and if so, does He live up there and does He see me right now?  

My life started out in one of the worst, most dire situations.  Poverty doesn’t begin to describe our day to day. Ten kids, no responsible adult caring if we ate or had our basic needs met.  Alcohol, drugs, and fighting consumed the entire house day and night. Fast forward a couple of years and my life took a turn no one could predict. My mom gave the youngest 4 kids up for adoption and that would include me and my twin sister.  Suddenly our whole world changed,   HOPE HAD ARRIVED!  

HOPE HAD ARRIVED!

I would soon experience the love of the God I had wondered about and would learn that He had a beautiful plan for my life.  For the first time in my life I felt HOPE.  Hope for a better life in a safe place! Hope that maybe someone really would love me. But my hope did not come without sacrifice. It took A LOT of sacrifice from a couple that listened to God’s prompting and took in two girls that needed a new life and needed to hear about a God who loved them.  It would take the sacrifice of many people that would invest in my life so that I could discover this beautiful plan that Jesus had for my life. It would take selfless teachers, youth leaders, coaches, friends, volunteers, Sunday school teachers, everyday people, to show me that I was loved and I was worth guiding and investing in.  

Because of the people that sacrificed to invest in me, my passion is telling children about Jesus!  I love to tell children that God loves them unconditionally, that He sees them and cares about them! And the best part? God gave me my dream job, so I could tell lots of kids about Jesus!

If there is one thing I can encourage you to do, it would be to invest in the life of a child!  Will it be hard? Yes!  Will it take sacrifice? Absolutely!  But I guarantee you, you will be blessed and you will give a child HOPE and that’s a beautiful thing!

I truly am living proof of my life’s verse, Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 

Maybe that’s what God was whispering to a frightened little girl in the dark so many years ago.

*****

Ginger Beasley is the Director of Elementary Ministries at Pawleys Island Community Church and has been since 2006.

Ginger has a passion for kids getting to know Jesus and enjoys sharing that passion at the Good News Club at Waccamaw Elementary School.

Ginger is married to Marshall, has 4 daughters, Heather, married to David Lane, Kristen, Allison, Mikayla and 3 beautiful granddaughters. She enjoys family time, the beach and spending time with friends.

 https://www.pawleysisland.church/kids