From the littlest kindergartener to the high school graduate who keeps coming back, every kid at Orlando Children’s Church carries things we don’t know about. They face struggles we might not understand, even if they were to tell us about them. And they don’t often tell us about them. Like all of us, they keep some stories hidden — stories of heartache and hope, intense fear and incredible bravery.
But there are stories we do know, because we get to see them first-hand every Saturday morning. Sometimes they’re subtle, but by God’s grace we still see them: an angry face softening into a faint smile as a volunteer greets a child by name, two little girls bonding over a game of Operation and becoming fast friends, a high school student writing down a prayer request and nervously handing it to a leader. We witness miracles in the form of texts from old students and little hands held high in worship. These are all pieces of a much much bigger story.
Though the details are different from person to person, each student getting off the bus and every volunteer who arrives on Saturday morning shares the same story. It’s a story about being relentlessly loved by our Savior who is making all things new.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
—Psalm 36:7