One Simple Verse

A few months ago we had a garage sale to get rid of some stuff before moving back to Marshall. It went great and we made a little extra change. Over Sunday lunch at my mom's house, Jason and I were discussing how to use the money, and my youngest piped in and said, "Let's buy some Bibles with it and give them to people that don't have Bibles". Wow! Why didn't we think of that?! Well, because sometimes we are always focused on our needs instead of others. It took the faith of a child to remind us of what we should really be doing and that is spreading the good news. It was very humbling to say the least. So we took some of the garage sale money, went to Mardel and bought ten Bibles. The boys each got five to choose how they wanted to use them or who to give them to. Jamison used five of the Bibles, which I will write about later and we still had five left so I decided to take one and put on my bus to go along with my husband's brilliant idea.

I never imagined in my wildest dreams that my husband's simple idea would totally transform my attitude towards my bus driving adventure. Little did I know that God had bigger plans for me and the kids that I spend 45 minutes with every afternoon. So, I stepped out on a little faith and also a little bit of the "I'll prove you wrong attitude" and I wrote the verse John 3:16 on my mirror. I also placed the Bible on my dashboard just in case someone wanted to actually pick it up and look up the verse or read from it. Yeah right!

The horns were honked at 3:20 letting the kids know to load up. Here they came, my little K-2 wild animals with snot, dirty faces and sweaty hands. Little did they know that I was actually glad to see them today, instead of my usual, "Sit down and be quiet"! They all got on and sat down and it wasn't a total of ten seconds and one of my little riders shouted, "Look everybody, Mrs. Sutton has John 3:16 on her mirror"! Before I knew it they were all pointing and shouting about John 3:16. I even had one little boy quote the verse word for word. I could not believe my ears! My little rugrats actually had heard of this verse and one of them even knew it by heart?! I was amazed. However, there were some that had never heard it and told me that had never been to church.

We moved on to the other campuses to pick up the other students. After everyone was on, the two boys that sit behind me said, "Hey look, she has a verse on her mirror". There was more shouting and pointing and quoting of the verse. Again, I was amazed. The boys behind me saw the Bible and I told them they could look it up to see what it said. They took the Bible, read the verse out loud and were silent. I said, "Do you know what that means"? They thought about it and weren't sure so I got to explain to them who Jesus is, why He came, and the promise He gave us. They wanted to know why I put the verse there and what I was going to do with it. I simply told them that God tells us to be a light for Him and spread His word and that is what I was trying to do.

Towards the end of the route, I had two girls come up and ask me about the verse. I told them to look it up in the Bible and see what it says. They found it but were a little unsure of the meaning even though they went to church. I got to explain the gospel a second time in one afternoon. Was this really happening? Was I really creating a relationship with the kids that I had grown to despise?

The rest of the week kids kept asking why I put the verse on the mirror and when I was going to change it. I explained to them I was going to put up a new verse every week and if they did not know it that I had a Bible they could look it up in. There was not one day that went by that week that someone didn't pick up the Bible or ask about the verse and its meaning. The kids were talking to me and I was enjoying talking to them. What a HUGE difference from just a few days ago. I can't believe I am actually saying this, but I was even looking forward to driving my bus! WHAT?! I never thought I would say that! I was even praying for my kids and I was even not as mean as usual.

God taught me a huge lesson that week. He taught me that you can't judge a book by its cover. I had grown to despise my bus route so much and some of the kids were so bad sometimes that I had labeled every kid as horrible, ungodly children that never went to church and that I would never be able to witness too. God used my husband to give me a simple idea to use one simple verse to be a light for Him and to transform my attitude, my bus route, and the relationship with the kids on my bus. This idea, this verse, this particular week, these specific kids and one bus out of 50 in one school district out of many has been transformed by one simple verse, John 3:16. This is a beginning to a new attitude, a new purpose, a new ride and a new me. I will be forever changed by this verse and it will be planted in my heart as the verse that not only changed the kids on the bus but also me and God's will for my life.

Tune in for week 2 of Bible on the Bus.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16