May 31, 2011

Another Addition to Our Family

Guess what happened today?
God did something cool!  Okay...so He does that all the time - everywhere - every moment.  But today He did something cool HERE at my house, for us.
There is a Compassion Blogger Trip going on right now in the Philippines.
Compassion Bloggers: Philippines 2011

I am already a regular reader of a few of the bloggers on this trip, so I thought that was pretty cool when I found out they were going on a trip with Shaun Groves to spread the word about Compassion International.  I've followed two prior trips like this, one to Kenya & one to Guatemala and as a result we sponsor two children through Compassion.  Get it?  2 trips = 2 kids that God has given to our hearts.  Makes sense right?
Fred is our first sponsored child and he was chosen after many tears over blog posts and quite a bit of time poring over photos and bios on the Compassion site.  He has grown a lot since the first photo we had of him!

Next came Blanca in Guatemala whom we only were blessed to sponsor for a brief time as she left the program due to school pressures.

Then God sent us Fernando - in a part of the world where Christianity is beyond a minority.  He is the same age as B and we hope that they will eventually become friends & pen-pals.

So... to the cool thing God did today for us.
I've been reading posts and trying to not get too involved... I've been feeling a bit maxed out emotionally lately and was afraid of the raw feeling of life in places of desperate need that is always right at the surface of these blogger trips. 
You try and keep arms-length when you read posts like this, and this, and this.  I dare you!

I'd already been feeling God tugging me about sponsoring a third child - a girl - J's age (like Blanca had been).  We have three kids at home, we should have three kids out there.  Makes sense in my head & heart.  But I've been putting that feeling aside - not wanting to stretch the budget a bit more just yet.

Today's mail brought an envelope from Compassion with a letter that told me how they have over 1,900 older children waiting for sponsors - and their definition of 'older' means 10 years old or more.  Not exactly OLD.  Seems lots of people - bless their generous hearts - are taken with the photos of little ones, and no one faults them one bit!  They are some cuties!  But the older kids are often overlooked.  Compassion serves these kids amazingly and you can read more in Shaun's post here.

So on a whim (who knew God used whims?), I clicked over to the Compassion site and did a quick search (female, waiting more than 6 months for a sponsor, birthday in the same month & year as J).  Nothing too demanding, didn't choose a country or anything other than those 3 criteria.  Guess how many girls popped onto my screen?

Just. this. one. 
Isn't she beautiful?
Her name is Diosenie.  She lives in the Philippines.  Right where those amazing bloggers are traveling this week.  I know that isn't a coincidence.

So that is my really cool thing that God did today.  Won't you prayerfully consider sponsoring a child in Jesus' name?  There is a special one that God has chosen for you.  I just know it.

Blessings on the journey,

May 27, 2011

A Long Weekend

It is a long weekend here. 
       4 days of no paid work or plans written in ink. 
Days to squint in the sun as you lie around doing nothing much of anything.
The "to do" lists may have some things marked off or they may be untouched as we hang out, play and enjoy the sunshine.
After day 1, it's shaping up to be a great weekend of 'nothing much' and it is all very good.

Blessings on the journey~

May 7, 2011

Mother's Day & my birthday

My birthday falls near Mother's Day.  A few times it has even been ON Mother's Day.  It's not a big deal.  Neither day is that much of a 'special' thing for me personally.  Mother's Day is one of those quasi-Hallmark holidays in my book.  Don't get me wrong - I like to have my kids give me an 'atta Mom' and "We love you!"  But I much prefer them unprompted and unscripted.
Birthdays in general aren't a huge deal in our family.  We usually celebrate with just my folks and sometimes a friend or two for the kids and most of the time enjoy a dinner out someplace low-key.  We are not big on hype and super-fancy around our house.  *shrug* 

This year for my gift from Steve, I found a really neat necklace from a cool little etsy shop online The Adopt Shoppe.  All proceeds go towards funding their adoption of a child from another country.  Definitely a  worthy cause!  And the verse on the necklace is one of my favorites.  Jeremiah 29:11

Actually I love the whole Bible (of course!  It's God's Word!) ... but some verses really jump out to me at different times and this one has been one of those to hold onto when things are rough and when things are great too.

Jeremiah 29: 11(italics mine) - 13
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

Doesn't that sound so hopeful and encouraging, comforting and just SAFE?  Yeah... I think so too.

Blessings on the journey all~

May 2, 2011

Linking to another blog - yeah! What he said!

I follow Shaun Groves on Facebook and read his blog fairly regularly.  I love that he is passionate about serving God and a 'real' person.  I have followed his work for Compassion and love his heart for those in need.  He is genuine - at least as far as I can tell via the web.  He is a home-schooling Dad (which gives him extra-points) and he is funny!
Here is today's post in response to the news about Osama bin Laden being killed.   Yeah... what he said.