Tom Riley has an inspiring story for every occasion. In one sense, the best story of the weekend was the one he told about how his daughters, ages 12 and 14 at the time, accepted Jesus as their personal Savior at a Faith Alive weekend. St. Peter and St. Paul was blessed by the fact that our weekend was also a reunion for Tom’s family.

All but one (a college student) of Tom’s extended family (children, spouses and grandchildren) served on the team! What a testimony to the faithfulness of God! Tom the Younger served as the music leader for the weekend. Jennifer, Tom’s second daughter, served as the children’s program leader. Laura, Tom’s eldest served as a witness. Tom’s wife, Marj lead the women’s luncheon. And the grandchildren participated in everything, willingly witnessing to the Lord’s work in their lives.

Now on to a favorite Tom Riley story…

Tom was hosting a family or church event (I don’t remember which) at their home. Several guests who are engineers fell to discussing the design challenges involved in building Noah’s Ark. In the corner of the room Tom’s granddaughter played quietly with her toys.

In typical engineer fashion the adults got out paper, pencils and calculators. They listed all requirements including the storage of food and discussed the waste management issues. Especially troubling was the sheer space required for the animals themselves.

Without missing a beat, Tom’s granddaughter interjected, “That’s easy! All the animals were babies, you know!”

“Oh!” the engineers stumbled, “Guess we didn’t know that!”

“Out of the mouth of babes … thou hast perfected praise” Matthew 21:16