God Has A Purpose For Me

Sometimes young ones who have the desire to please God have a hard time understanding how they can accomplish this. God Has a Purpose for Me , by LaRonda Koffi, is a book that covers this very topic. The illustrations are drawn in cartoon style by Victor Guiza.

The main character is Aya, a little African-American girl who goes to church with her family and is confused by the sermon she hears. The pastor says that the sermon is about "How to Fulfill God's Purpose in Your Life," but Aya cannot figure out exactly what that means.

Aya truly desires to fulfill God's purpose, but she has the wrong idea of how to do so. She dresses up in her Mom's Sunday best and sings praises loudly to the Lord. She feels discouraged when all her hard work just leads to exhaustion!

With the help of her family, Aya finally is led to understand what fulfilling God's purpose truly means. Her daddy tells her lovingly,

"Fulfilling God's purpose in your life is this: In everything you do, glorify God."

What I Like: I think Ms Koffi is very effective in the way she portrays Aya as a positive example to young children. Aya listens carefully in church, and even though she doesn't understand the sermon, she prays for help and goes to her parents for guidance. I like it that she also makes the message of Colossians 3:17 quite clear.

What I Dislike: I didn't love the illustrations, but my two year old seemed to really like them! Also, when Aya finally realizes how to fulfill God's purpose, she tries to make straight A's on her exams. I wish the lesson had been focused on doing her best, no matter what grade she got. However, this is a very small matter and doesn't really affect my opinion of the book as a whole.

Overall Rating: Very good.

Age Appeal: Ages 4-7, but my two year old likes to have it read to her.

Publisher Info: Jesus Loves Me Children's Books, 2008; ISBN: 0981715001; Hardcover, $15.95.

Buy it now at Amazon.com for $12.44!