One of my earliest memories is of sitting on my Mom’s lap, listening to her read me to me from My Picture Story Bible.  I was captivated by the stories and the colorful pictures.  I don’t know if my Mom knew it or not, but she was planting seeds that would sprout into my life-long love of God’s Word.  Thank you, Mom, for sowing God’s Word into my life.

Another early memory involves my Mom too, of course.  It was my Mom who first introduced me to God’s love for all the peoples of the world through Sunbeams.  My Mom was my Sunbeam leader.  I loved hearing the stories of missionaries around the world telling people about the love of Jesus.  Those stories were thrilling to me.  And I loved learning about the different countries and cultures and peoples.  Again, my Mom was planting seeds…seeds that would sprout into my life-long love of God’s mission around the world.  Thank you, Mom for sowing the mission of God in the world into my life.

Over the next few years I would continue to grow in God’s Word and in learning about His mission around the world.  I am grateful for the many women in my life who nurtured me in my pursuit of God and in my missions journey:  Mom (Betty Bradley), Eva Irvin, Romaine Barker, Mabel Singleton, Becky Arnett, and Evelyn Tully, to name a few.  These women lived out their faith journey in exemplary ways, probably not really taking stalk of who might be watching. They were just trying to live out their lives in obedience to our Lord and Savior. But I was watching and learning and catching their vision for reaching the world for Christ.

That’s my story…at least part of it.  What’s yours?  What’s your God story?  What’s your missions story? Share your story at http://wordpress.com/post/edwaterreflections.com/237 or email me at cbradley@flbaptist.org and tell me your story.  I would love to hear your God story and your missions story.