THE INVITATION
Ruth quietly drew in her new sketchpad while sitting at her desk in Mrs. Moran's class. Ruth loved to draw, especially animals, and Mrs. Moran always let her students have quiet time on Monday mornings.
A "knock, knock, knock," at the classroom door woke Ruth from her daydream. Ruth's latest drawing, a beautiful spider web, was coming together nicely. Mrs. Moran went to the door, smiled, and brought a girl into the classroom. Ruth followed the newcomer and noticed that she looked uncomfortable and kept her eyes focused at the floor. The new girl shyly introduced herself as Kara. Kara and her family were new in town. They just moved to the city from a small town in Ohio.
Ruth was very curious about Kara. At lunch, Ruth asked Kara to sit with her. Kara sat down, but spent the entire lunchtime eating and only looking at the food in front of her. Ruth also noticed that the other children made fun of "the new girl" and called her names and talked behind her back. It hurt Ruth that her classmates acted this way.
That afternoon, Ruth was talking to her Grammy about her day. Ruth mentioned Kara and that she had hoped things had gone better. Grammy suggested that they pray and ask for God's presence and peace. After praying, Grammy reminded Ruth of scripture in the Bible dealing with friendship and the power of sharing the good news with others.
As Ruth was leaving Grammy's house, it finally came to her, "I can make Kara an invitation to come to church with her family on Sunday!"
That evening after homework, Ruth made a beautiful invitation to worship at her church. Ruth had drawn a lovely picture. In the middle the invitation said:
YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND WORSHIP
THIS SUNDAY at 10am.
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP CHURCH
387 MAIN STREET
YOUR NEW FRIEND, RUTH
The following morning, Ruth smiled and gave Kara the card. She thought Kara would stay silent, but then she said, "What a beautiful card. Did you draw this?" "Yes, " Ruth answered, "I love Jesus, I love to draw, and I love my church. Do you think you might like to come?" "I'll have to ask my parents, but I really hope they say, yes!" exclaimed Kara.
Ruth was so glad she had turned to God for help, because she had made a new friend: Kara.
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