Sometimes, God shows Himself in unexpected ways … even in a roll of the “word dice.”

At least, that’s how it was with Ashley Evans, a volunteer Reading Buddy at South Street School, on a recent morning. Coming off a stressful day – when everything seemed to be going wrong and the issues were piling up at home – Ashley was playing a word game with her student.

She shared what happened next in a note to Jericho President Carrie L. Amos:

“While playing games with *Jennifer (a third-grader) making sentences out of random words, this sentence came to me and just made a huge impact for me, and the stress I was dealing with,” Ashley wrote.

The sentence she crafted: LET LOVE BE OUR WORK.

“It was just a silly game where you shake the dice up and try and make sentences out of the words,” Ashley explained later. “With each roll the die, “love” kept appearing, and when it was my turn to make the sentence that is when I came up with ‘let love be our work.’ I just really feel like if we make it our work to share our love and the Lord’s love with those around us – and not just work – that is the most important thing we can do.”

Ashley’s note touched Carrie, too. She responded to Ashley’s email with these words: “I’ve reflected on this email for several days – it touched my spirit in such an incredible way. You see, you’ve demonstrated to me the essence of our faith: emptying ourselves of everything that may deter us from serving and allowing Him to fill us with His love so that we can share that same love with others. Thank you for giving yourself away to these kids and for showing up – even when it isn’t easy. Your sweet disposition and servant’s heart is appreciated and is making a difference in the lives of the kids we serve.”

“I love the chance that I get to serve and share love and kindness with these kids by reading with them each week,’ Ashley said, “I hope to make this part of my everyday life.”