He is the Rock

DISCLAIMER: If you are an environmentalist, be prepared for content that is not environmentally friendly. However, I urge you to look past your environmentalismness because the following post has the good of the earth in mind...maybe not the physical earth but for those who occupy it.

On our last Sunday still at home, our Sunday School class was taught by our friend Jessica. Jessica became a good friend over the summer through our Sunday School class. She was inspired by a story she heard on the K-LOVE radio station and had asked our teacher if she could teach our class. It was definitely one of my favorite classes all summer.

I don't remember the exact story, but a man called in to KLOVE and said he had found a balloon with a note inside, and all the note said was, "Pray for my son Zach. He is sick." That was all. And the man prayed for Zach and his illness. We don't know what was wrong with Zach or if he is better now, but I do know that God honored that parent who asked for prayers for Zach and the man for being obedient.

Can you guess our assignment? We had to write a Bible verse and note on a piece of paper, tie it to a balloon, and release it. Everyone got to pick their own verses, but I believe the assignment had something to do with introducing the reader to the Lord. (Sorry Jess if I'm butchering your lesson.)

Mine and Kyler's Bible Verses

]Kyler chose a verse from the book Revelation, and I chose one from Deuteronomy. I can't tell you why Kyler chose his. You'll have to ask him, but I chose one because it's familiar to me. I memorized it in fifth grade during Vacation Bible School, and I have never forgotten it. I wanted whoever found my balloon to know that God is the Rock: solid, strong, sturdy, and unbreakable. I also think of this verse in the context of faith. Build your faith on the Rock, for it will withstand storms. Do not build it on sand for the rains will wash it away.

Anyways, that is what I wanted a total stranger to know. So we tied our notes to balloon strings and took to the streets...er, parking lot.

Kyler checking his ballon's buoyancy

We prayed over our balloons and off they went.

Most of our attendees (wake up Jacob)

Well, some of them went. Some of them got tangled around me or other balloons. But most of them took to the skies, flying over our parking lot, clearing power lines, and floating over the cornfields.

My late release due to picture taking

We stood there watching and speculating. Whose would go the furthest and where they would land? Jessica said that the lady filling the balloons up with helium at the store told her that if nothing sharp popped the balloons, the helium should last 3-4 days. We're hoping for phone calls from Colorado or California. Michelle, whose balloon skimmed the top of the corn field, is hoping to reach a lost college student at Ball State.

Wherever God took these balloons though, hopefully whoever picks them up will come to know God or be curious about Him or acknowledge His constant presence in our lives.

(And THAT is the reason why I believe that if a bird chokes on a rubber balloon, it's okay; because whoever finds the content of that broken balloon might come to know Christ).