You started blogging when?

February 22, 2013

So I took a peek back at my old blog to remember when I posted my first blog post…April 2006!! Almost 7 years ago! Yikes!

My kids were this little once!

One of my very first posts was about our cookie making activity from using the Mystery of History curriculum. I find this very interesting because Kelsey and I are going through Volume One again this year, although I don’t believe we made the Joseph coat cookies this time.

A lot has happened since that first set of blog posts: my kids are 7 years older (and so am I!), Matthew has graduated from our homeschool and is working full time now, and Kelsey is my only student. Over a year ago, I moved my blog to Blogger and just a couple of months ago, to WordPress.com. And over the last 2 years, not only do I blog about my family and some of our daily happenings in our little corner of the world, but our experiences with Compassion have taken a front seat on my blog.

My blogging goals are posted for this year on my About page. On that page, you can also find links to some of the posts that were popular on my Blogger blog before I moved it over to WordPress.com. There is also a link to the Compassion website and a link to a Pinterest board with letter writing ideas for your Compassion sponsored kids. If you haven’t taken a peek at my About page yet, you might just learn a little more about me with the random facts I have listed.

My friend, Kendra, over at Preschoolers and Peace has been helping me with some great tips and encouragement as I begin to be more intentional about my blogging. She has a lot of great information to share, so be sure to visit her blog today.

So, if you are a blogger, how long have you been blogging?

Sending more than money

February 18, 2013

There are a few things you can do to make your relationship with your Compassion sponsored child just a little more special.

Lord willing, continue your financial sponsorship until the child has completed the program
Pray for your sponsored child and his family daily
Post a photo of your sponsored child in a special spot in your home
Write letters of encouragement to your sponsored child

If you do these four things, you will be making a huge difference in the life of a child living in extreme poverty. Your involvement in this child’s life could be what brings him/her and his/her family into a relationship with Christ. Isn’t that amazing that a relationship that is formed from another continent can be enough to make the difference in many lives? We may never know what the eternal impact of our involvement in these kid’s lives will be.

As a Compassion sponsor, we are not required to do more than the four things listed above, but I know that as a family, we like to send more than just a letter to our Compassion kids. On the Compassion website, they give tips for connecting with your sponsored child:

Another place you can find some great letter writing ideas is on Pinterest. Compassion has a Pinterest account and the fun thing is that I am a contributor to the Compassion Pinterest account! There is a board dedicated to Letter Writing Ideas which currently has just over 100 creative ideas to include with your letters.

One of my favorites projects that we have done so far is to trace our hands onto cardstock and write our favorite Bible verse. We sent these with extra cardstock with instructions for our sponsored kids to trace their hands and send them back to us with their favorite Bible verse written on it.

We have received 2 of these handprints back!

What creative item have you sent to your Compassion sponsored child lately?

You can…Change The Story!

February 11, 2013

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/56554209 w=500&h=281]

Short Main Video from Compassion International on Vimeo.

As a Compassion sponsor, one of the things you can do at least once a year is share your love for this ministry with your local church family. Each year in the spring, Compassion gives us the materials and opportunity to share how sponsoring a child not only impacts that child’s life, but your life as well.

Right now on the Compassion Sunday website, you can view video testimonials, order a free planning guide, read facts about poverty, and many other things.

Planning a Compassion Sunday is easy:

Pray about your participation
Talk with your pastor
Order a free planning guide
Prepare your presentation

Everything you need to plan and prepare for your Compassion Sunday is available on the Compassion Sunday website.

Are you ready to help Change the Story for more children living in extreme poverty? I hope you are!

Compassion Blogging

February 4, 2013

Are you a Compassion sponsor?

Do you have a blog?

If you answered ‘yes’ to both of those questions, you should join the Compassion Bloggers!

By using your blog, you can help to make an eternal difference for the lives of children living in extreme poverty. There are many people who have joined the Compassion Bloggers network. And you can be one of them too!

Every so often, there will be assignments sent to us to share with others on our blogs. It might be sharing about the latest Compassion Blogger trip or encouraging your readers to sponsor a child. It might be writing a letter from a sponsored child’s perspective or sharing about a current need for a particular child. Whatever the assignment is, every little bit helps to share the vision of Compassion with your readers and help to release more children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Since I am not sure when I will have the opportunity to visit our Compassion kids, I love reading the stories of other bloggers who have had the chance to visit their sponsored kids. When these bloggers are on these trips, we are able to ‘visit’ along with them as they share so many things they experience while on their trips.

As a Compassion Blogger, you can also display special widgets on your blog to let others know you are a blogger for Compassion.

Ready to join the network? I hope you decide to join today!