An Incredible Gift

Have you ever been going through your day....a day like any other day....when an unexpected blessing falls into your lap?

Last Wednesday I received a call from Carey Kinsolving, syndicated columnist and organizer of the Children's International Art Festival. I was one of two finalist for a contest. That's neat....what contest?? I thought. Though I'd been told by the contestant's mom that I'd be receiving this call, she had not filled me in on any of the details. Boy was I in for a HUGE surprise.

A very dear eleven year old friend of mine....whom I've known since her birth and have watched grow into a beautiful and Godly young woman.... wrote an essay about me as her teacher and friend. Her family is in the same homeschool co-op as mine. As I spoke to Carey on the phone, he began to fill in the details of this contest. The winner and her spouse would receive an all-inclusive trip to a Dude Ranch in the panhandle of Idaho. What? Are you serious??? I thought.

They were having difficulty picking the winner and he had a few questions for me. Does a trip like this interest you? Could you leave your 4 boys for a week? Do you like to ride horses? Could you make the trip in August? I answered in the affirmative, and more, for all of his questions. I'm sure I talked his ear off!!!

The next day, as my family traveled to New York for my niece's wedding at West Point, I drifted in and out of sleep in the front seat of our big green Suburban while holding the cell phone in my hand. The phone vibrated. I answered. RILEY'S ESSAY WON!!!! The phone call was a mixture of tears, laughs, exchange of information, and more tears. Cory from the Dude Ranch at Red Horse Mountain was also on the phone and he filled me in on some of the details of the ranch. Wow!! It sounds like a little piece of heaven on earth!!!

What a blessing from God! Thank you, Riley, for this incredible gift!

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For more details about the contests that Riley entered and about the Dude Ranch in the panhandle of Idaho, check out these websites:

www.kidstalkaboutGod.org/riley
http://www.redhorsemountain.com/

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Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:17-18