Nancy Alcorn's Blog: The Gift that Keeps on Giving…

I love seeing God’s gift of a new heart and a changed life. The cool thing about that is that when a person’s heart is transformed, they want to give to others. They see themselves in a whole new light. I want to share with you a perfect example of what I’m talking about. We just received this email from Kelly, who graduated from our St. Louis home in March of this year. She is now the music teacher at Red Rock Elementary School in Arizona for grades K-8. She had her 8th grade students put together Scripture cards for the St. Louis Mercy girls for Christmas. The healing and transformation that has occurred in her life is amazing, and I wanted to share her email with you…

Hey,

I've got the gifts for the Mercy girls wrapped, with names on them and all packed. My 8th graders did such an awesome job with making these sweet note card flip books. I was actually pretty impressed with their artistic talent! The inside cover says that we wanted to help them sow the Word of God into their hearts, so we made these note card verse flip book things for them. We also included Proverbs 4:20-22, which was my verse that I was glued to on my Mercy journey. It says, “My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.”

My musicals are over now! So good to be done, but sad at the same time. The kids did an amazing job. So perfect and wonderful! God is so amazing to give me all of this. I love what I do…I love making kids sparkle and shine on stage. I love putting musicals and plays and songs together. I love performances. I was in tears the other night when I started thinking about the person that God has changed me into and how far I've come. The old Kelly would have not committed to any of this, and would have run away from responsibility. Not the new Kelly! I was thinking about all the mess in me that you put up with, and how you never got sick of me, never ran away from me, and were still so proud of me when I graduated. God just really made clear to me recently that He is proud and you guys are proud of me too. And I'm not meaning to be prideful! This first semester out of Mercy, and seeing the fruit that has come out of me, and the person I am and becoming is so cool. This musical just really made clear to me the strengths that God is developing in me. I'm really organized, I think of all the things that could possibly go wrong and fix them before it happens, I have a ton of energy, I'm good with music, I'm really good at presenting things and putting together performances, and a new thing I’m learning - following through and giving your best ALL THE TIME! At the same time, God is also working on my weaknesses - PLANNING, not stressing out over the little things, and how to let go and let God be in control even when there are things you can't get finished in one day.

I'm singing lots over here...."so I’ll stand, my soul, Lord, to you surrendered. All I am is yours. So I’ll stand arms high and heart abandoned. All I am is yours."

I love you. Merry Christmas. Fa la la la laaaaaa, la la la laaaaaa!

Kelly