“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

1 Peter 4:10 NASB

I love this verse!  It makes me think of a hand reaching into a store of that manifold grace (The NIV calls it “God’s grace in its various forms.”) and handing it out, to one person, then the next, then the next.  Some forgiveness grace for you, healing grace for me, comfort grace for him–all kinds!  And it never runs out, which is already exciting.

The first part of the verse tells us who gets to hand out the grace; the same people! Us!! We all have needs, but we also all have a role in meeting the needs of others.   God gives some of us grace to teach, grace to preach, grace to encourage, even grace to help  (1 Corinthians 12). No job is too small; just do whatever it is, for his glory (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17).

Which brings me to the subject of this post. A while ago I was searching online for patterns because my daughters wanted to make dolls. I came across dollydonations.blogspot.com.

Sarah, the host of Dolly Donations, provides patterns and instructions for making dolls that are sent to orphans around the world. Her mission is to “provide them with a source of comfort . . . to send them love, one dolly at a time!”

I loved the idea and wanted to make some dolls right away, but wondered if it was maybe too trivial. People need clean water, food, and shelter. Is it silly to make dolls? Then I thought about how much my own children have cherished their dolls or stuffed monkeys or whatever over the years.  Some children never experience that little bit of grace.

Last week our homeschool co-op got together to make dolls for the residents of the Zion Project (www.zionproject.org) rescue home.  One of the co-op moms has a daughter who is serving there as a missionary.  The residents have experienced unspeakable horrors as sex slaves in the war-torn northern region of Uganda.  The oldest girl there is 14.  Would a doll to hold bring them any comfort at all after what they have been through?  It is my hope that it would.

And now, our dolls will be getting on a plane today, thanks to eight families in Virginia–parents and kids–cutting, sewing, and stuffing fabric to put together a little grace for 17 girls they will likely never meet.

Here is what we made as our “Dolly Donations”

Traumatized Kids Want Cuddles

I (Elisa again) think Susan’s story from their group advocacy project is awesome!

Why? I had a conversation not too long ago with a service provider about the stuffed animals and dolls that are given to our local shelters and how much they mean to the little kids here. To my surprise, she told me they don’t want toy donations, they just want pillows and softies to cuddle as comfort in the midst of their difficult situations.  

If kids in the United States going though difficult times want huggables, that makes me more confident that being given a little bit of cuddleable love actually makes a difference. 

Awesome job, Susan and friends!