Go: Treasure His Children

If I were to choose one word to describe this year, it is the word "Go."  I knew beforehand that this would be a year where I started traveling to visit children around the world, to love on them, hold them, and look them in the eyes and tell them how very valuable they are.  Early in January, I went to Mexico on a missions trip with other employees from Family Christian Stores... my first "real" international missions trip, and in May/June, I joined a group of Compassion sponsors to visit our sponsored children and minister to many others that the Father would show us.  

As I visited these countries, I had opportunities to love on fatherless children that I had never met before...

...my own sponsored girl whose father has died... 

...friends' sponsored children who are orphans and who have been hurting both physically and emotionally...

and other precious orphans who have totally won my heart, such as Alondra in Mexico, and Teresa in Honduras.

As I did, I began to get a glimpse of the heart of our Heavenly Father for children around the world... 

 

to feel His heart for each of these children. 

The question has been asked, is it really worth the time, effort, and especially all that money to actually go?  What really is being accomplished by giving so much of your money?  of your time? of your energy?  Wouldn't it be better to just give that money to them to help with their needs?  What value is it to visit the children in their school classrooms...

  

 

where they eagerly run to the door to greet us?

and to see the conditions of their playgrounds where they are spending their childhood playing?

 

 What value is there in visiting them in their homes...

where we saw the reality of their harsh living conditions in more ways than just the physical ones?

What is the value in using all that money to spend an hour or a day or a week playing with children... 

providing learning activities for them...

  

and taking them on unforgettably fun outings?

 

 

I say the value is imparting incredible worth and hope

to each one that you allow your heart to touch. 

Maria is an absolutely transformed child from when Jonathan & Kim saw her last year.  She was beaming the whole week every time I saw her, and she knew that she was incredibly valued and loved by two very special somebodies in the world... as well as by the rest of us on the team who were all loving on her too.

I watched children transform and blossom right under my eyes, such as Irma here.  When I first met her, she wistfully asked if I knew her sponsor.  She has never received a letter from her sponsor, and the feeling of having so little value was written all over her face.  She couldn't even smile for me to take her picture.  

As I talked with her, telling her that she was such a precious treasure, and letting her know that it made me really sad that her sponsor had never written to her, and that I would do what I could to help her sponsor know how important letters were for her, hope began to come in her eyes, and a smile transformed her countenance.

 I saw children transformed by simple gifts, given with love...

 

 

I saw children transformed just by spending time together with them and in every way possible, to say that I loved them and that they were so very important...

Over and over I held children's faces, looked in their eyes, or hugged them, and told them that they were so precious... such a valuable treasure... that I loved them, and Father God loved them so incredibly much.  We often say that if we were the "only one", that Jesus still would have left the glory and riches of heaven to come to earth just for us, that we are that valuable, priceless, and precious to Him.  

That is true.  He would. We are each that valuable to Him.

And that is how He feels about each of these precious children... some unloved by the people they live with... some are loved but are in very difficult circumstances... all of them are facing the effects of poverty in multiple ways.

Ask yourself, what difference does it make to you for one important person in your life to tell you that you are loved and a priceless treasure?

I know that it matters to me.

I met my sponsored children's siblings, and loved on them too...

and met my child's friends...

who became my own special friends as well.

 

I sat on the floor with orphans, talking with them, listening to them, taking selfies together with them, 

 

hugging them...

and before we left, I loved this one like she was my own.

"Going" really isn't so difficult.  It's the leaving the children behind that is difficult.  I received far more than I ever expected when I went.  My heart has been flung open to embrace many children, every child that I can, not just my own sponsored children.  I can hardly wait to go back.

As I look over the photos of the children I sponsor as well as the children who are waiting for sponsors, many times I have caught my breath in awe of them...  "They are so beautiful..."  It's not so much about any kind of outward beauty as it is about glimpsing the Father's heart to see them for how He values each one.

Priceless.

Treasures.

 If you haven't written to your child recently, or have never told them what a valuable treasure they are, write them now.  They need to hear it from you.

If your heart is being stirred to go, get ready to go!

And if you are willing to open your heart to another child in need of a sponsor, do whatever you can to make this a reality.  We have so much.  

Seriously.  

We have so much that we could use to invest instead in the life of a priceless child.

This sweet 5 year old boy, Antony, is in the same project that we visited for a week... I walked up and down those stairs behind him many times!  I know that you would be so very blessed to sponsor him, and you could make such a difference in his life.

Antony is one of many children in need, but will you embrace this one?  Tell him that he is valuable?  That he is not just one face among many in the crowd, but that you personally SEE him, and will love him, in Jesus' name?

We are the Body of Christ... Will you extend His hand of compassion, to share His love in every way that He gives you to do?

Blessings,

Jesus Loves Me

A photo update!  Sponsors look forward to receiving their child's updated photo, and to have one of our kids smiling so delightfully is just the best!  What a difference from the serious, tense photo I had of Madelin when I first sponsored her, so this one makes my heart very happy.  Madelin lives in the Dominican Republic with her grandmother, and I love that child sponsorship is making a difference in her precious life.

Here is a delightful video of a translator and children in the DR singing "Jesus Loves Me"...  get ready to smile!

 "Jesus Loves Me" sung by a translator and children in the Dominican Republic

Would you like to sponsor a child in the DR also?  This is 7 year old Eduardo who has been waiting 300+ days for a sponsor.  He reminds me so much of a very precious boy about the same age named Wilans that I met a few weeks ago in Honduras, and I am praying for Eduardo's long wait for a sponsor to end.  Will you bless his life by being his loving sponsor?

Sponsor Eduardo Here  :o)

Cheering Your Child on to Victory

At least half (if not all!) of the kids I correspond with around the world absolutely love playing soccer, so the World Cup games are going to be a very high interest item to write about.  Here are some ideas for writing letters using this theme.  First, create a fun World Cup soccer pizap photo of your child (or yourself).  You can send this as a photo, print it off on a letter of your own, or upload it into an email template.  If you're using the one of the beautiful Compassion templates, position your sticker designs away from the edge of the photo design in PiZap to allow for the long rectangular crop once you get it in the email template. Here's an example of a finished photo uploaded into one of Compassion's templates.  

This theme sets you up perfectly for encouraging your child in excelling in his love, faith, and obedience to Jesus, remembering that there is a "cloud of witnesses" who are watching, and telling your child that you too are cheering him on to victory.  While I've never played soccer in my life, I loved competing on my high school swim team.  I won most of my races, and wrote to my kids how that meant a lot of hard work, day after day, doing more than I thought I could do, and certainly doing more than I felt like doing.  I encouraged each child to do their best, in their studies at school, in their work at home serving their family, and in their faith, love, and obedience to God, and to keep up their good work even when they "don't feel like it."  Encourage your children to  "Excel in kindness...  Excel in faithfulness...  Excel in purity...  Excel in showing honor and respect...  Keep choosing to do the right thing, and don't give up even when it is hard.  I am confident that you are one who will live his life to win in God's kingdom, and that you will receive a reward that lasts.  I am here for you, cheering for you, and praying you on to victory.""  

Include a verse on "running the race" or one related to winning, competing, or preserving, such as the ones included on this web page of 14 inspiring Bible verses for athletes.  I'm selecting one verse for each child, and writing a little something about it. 

If you want to send some items snail mail, there are many soccer printables to choose from online.  Here are my favorites...

 

http://kidsprintablescoloringpages.com/img-soccer-coloring-pages-2-6926.htm

 http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/goalkeeper-girl-colouring-page

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/playing-beach-soccer-colouring-page

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/kicking-a-ball-with-dad-colouring-page

  

http://www.freekidscolorpages.com/coloring-pages/soccer/attachment/voetbal005/

http://www.freekidscolorpages.com/coloring-pages/soccer/attachment/voetbal006/

http://www.colornimbus.com/a-soccer-player-doing-a-bicycle-kick-coloring-page/

http://coloringkids.org/soccer-coloring-pages/soccer-coloring-pages-1-2/

http://www.supercoloring.com/pages/tag/soccer/

 http://www.klaarwerk.nl/voetbal-doolhof/

I'm also sending my kids a copy of a bracket...  I didn't even know what this was before the games started, but have learned since then.  ;o)  It's a page for keeping track of the winning team for each game as they head for the World Cup.   There are many choices online... this one is designed with the old computer pixel look...

 

http://extramustard.si.com/2014/06/10/world-cup-pixel-bracket/

I just returned from Honduras a couple weeks ago where I was incredibly blessed to visit two of my sponsored children.  While there, I witnessed the Latin American kids' passion for soccer.  My heart is still very much in Honduras!  This sweet boy has been tugging at my heart to help him find a sponsor.  Josué David will be 11 years old on his birthday this August, and it is significant to note that he is above average in school.  He lives with his mother who is sometimes employed, and there are 4 children in the family.  If he is tugging at your heart, please sponsor Josué David here.

Blessings,

Little Christmas Bird Puzzles

This past year I've had somewhat of a "bird" theme going with several of my letters to my kids, so to top it off, I'm sending these gorgeous Jane Maday bird puzzles for my Compassion kids with their Christmas cards & letters.  We're always on the lookout for nice paper items to send to our kids for gifts, and these were perfect.  Fortunately I found 17 boxes of these at the Dollar Tree... just what I needed for my Compassion kids!

However...  lol... what I didn't realize at the time, was that I needed to send these assembled to fit the 1/4" thick mailing guidelines.  Yikes!  After spending a couple hours putting the first one together with my folks after dinner a few nights ago, reality set in that I simply didn't have enough time to put these all together by myself, given my work and school schedule... not unless I was planning these as gifts for next Christmas, that is!  So I put out a desperate plea for help on my Facebook page, and ahhhhh...  I was so blessed to have several people volunteer to put together 1-3 puzzles each, and I had the puzzles back in a couple of days.

So for those of you who are interested in sending puzzles to your Compassion kids, here's my tip on packaging them for mailing.  Since the finished size of the puzzle is too large for the allowed mailing size, I divided the completed puzzle in half, stacked the two layers on top of a thin but sturdy piece of cardboard.  It's important that the cardboard does not buckle or bend, or else it defeats the purpose of assembling the puzzle... you don't want it crumbling into pieces!  I found that the easiest way to do this was to slip a sheet of cardstock paper under the completed puzzle so I could then slip the cardboard underneath without breaking apart the puzzle.  Just barely slide the cardboard to the halfway point... this gives you just a tiny bit of a "shelf" making it easy to press down the puzzle where you need to divide it in half.  I included a 5x7" manila envelope with each package for the children to store their puzzle when not in use, and included one of the little designs from the side of the box on the envelope.  Then I taped 2 pieces of sturdy cardstock paper around the top and bottom of the stack.  It didn't need the piece on the back, but I just liked the finished look of it.  :o)  Then I finished it off with the cut out puzzle design taped to the front of the package.

So here is my stack of packaged puzzles ready to mail off... this feel so good!  I am just so grateful for each person who helped me to get this project completed.  And here's the kids' Christmas cards... I'm finally sending out the "Little Bird" Christmas cards that I started last year...  I just need to finish stamping "God Cares for (child's name)" on the front of the cards for my new kids from this year.

And of course, my new kids are getting all the sweet bird swag/mobile/ornament designs I sent out last year... I love these watercolor designs!

All of the children are getting a couple of these 3D chickadee ornaments to make on their own... check out the gorgeous photos and step-by-step instructions with the pattern to download!  I cut out one set to try my hand at it, and they're pretty simple to assemble.  They would also look nice if the kids want to color them... I might try my hand at doing a few with watercolors... someday...   :o)

Celebrating Grandparents & Grandchildren

I'm celebrating being a Grammie... I love my grandson! While I have been busy painting my home office this past week, I have also been planning for one special corner of the room to be my "grandbaby corner"... the built-in bookshelves are freshly painted white, and my favorite childhood books and toys will soon grace the shelves.  I can't wait to get a special cozy chair for the corner, and this will be one of my special places to share sweet times together with my grandbaby.  

This past month, I've been especially drawn to the need for sponsors for children living with a grandparent, and am pleased to see that several that I have highlighted have been sponsored, whether through my posts or not. I'm just so happy that they have been sponsored! 

Here is a girl I have been watching...  adorable 6 year old Greyss, from Colombia, who lives with her grandmother, and is in need of a sponsor.  Her grandmother is caring for 2 children in her home, and is in need of a sponsor for her grandchild. Would you be willing to help this family?

This precious girl, 9 year old Kenia from El Salvador, lives with both her grandfather and grandmother.  She has been waiting 275 days for a sponsor.  Her grandparents are caring for 4 children in their home.  Would you consider helping this precious family by sponsoring Kenia?

10 year old Rafael from Brazil captured my heart a few weeks ago. He lives with his grandmother who cares for 3 children in the home.  Rafael has been waiting 396 days for a sponsor.  Would you be his sponsor, and lift the load also for his precious grandmother?

You can be the answer to the fervent prayers of one of these grandparents.

The Simplest & the Best

How important is a washcloth to you?

Recently I met a woman who got to go on an Operation Christmas Child distribution in Ecuador last year...  it was the most incredibly moving experience.  But what really got to her was when she asked one boy what his favorite item was in his box... are you ready for this?!

 It was the washcloth.

Not the toys, school supplies or other items, as wonderful and necessary as they were to him.  But he cherished having his own washcloth. You never know what your simple gifts will mean to the child living in poverty who receives them... you never know when what seems the least important to you is the most important to another.

This short video clip is from one of the distributions in Ecuador last year...



It's time to start packing these simple but life changing gifts.  Come by Family Christian Stores to pick up your free box... or boxes.  :o)