One of the ways that I have been able to influence my kids in the things of God is through books.  I enjoy researching and looking for books that will challenge and inspire my kids on their journey with God.  One of those books that I found was by Max Lucado called “You were made to make a difference”.  He wrote an adult version and a teen version.  You can also get it on audio.  My kids loved it on Audio because they tell a lot of testimonies and stories of how kids changed the world.  I wasn’t sure if my kids would find the book boring or exciting.  They ended up loving the different stories.

For example there was this kid named Austin Gutwein who wanted to try out for his basketball team at nine years old.  Unfortunately he didn’t make the team but he made an amazing impact on the world using basketball.  He saw a video on World Vision about kids in Africa who didn’t have parents because of AIDS.  He wanted to somehow help these orphans.  So he came up with a plan to shoot hoops and raise money for these orphans.  For every shot that he got, someone donated a certain amount of money.  The money went to Africa to help the orphans.  He did great and was able to bless Africa but he wanted to do more, so the next year he got 1,000 of his friends to also get different people to donate and they would all shoot hoops on the same day.  Austin ended up starting an organization called Hoops for Hope.  In just five years Hoops for Hope had raised one million dollars for orphans in Africa.  The money has been used to build schools, medical clinics and orphanages. If you are interested in checking out Hoops for Hope, you can find Austin’s organization website at HoopsofHope.org. This is Austin Gutwein’s book that shares his journey.

These kind of testimonies inspire kids that they can make a difference in all kinds of ways.  Austin’s story was just one of the many inspiring stories in this book.  I was surprised how interested my kids were and how they wanted to think up their own ideas and ways to make a difference.