Capture Your 365

I have a whole week of photo prompts for you today!

Compassion Mobile Experience

ISO 100, 20mm, f/7.1, 1/640 sec

Day 124 – A Wide Angle: My whole family was able to volunteer for a shift at the Compassion Mobile Experience when they were in our area recently. I knew this was the shot I wanted to take to go along with this prompt. Have you had a chance to visit the experience yet?

strawberry jam

ISO 100, 44mm, f/5.3, 1/6 sec

Day 125 – Relaxation: that is exactly what I did after making 2 batches of strawberry jam!

crayons

ISO 100, 36mm, f/5.0, 1/30 sec

Day 126 – Crayons: Crayons in our home are not used very much any more, but it is amazing to me how many we have! Every now and then we bring them out when we are watching little people, or when we are doing a fun project for our Compassion kids.

candy

ISO 100, 50mm, f/3.5, 1/15 sec

Day 127 – Candy: Can you see my favorite candy there on the top right shelf?

macaroni and cheesse

ISO 100, 50mm, f/3.5, 1/10 sec

Day 128 – Snacks: Interestingly enough, I don’t really eat a lot of snacks when I am home during the day, so I decided to take a photo of the homemade macaroni and cheese we had for lunch on this day. Yum!

rabbit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/3.5, 1/40 sec

Day 129 – Animals: This is Kelsey’s bunny, Vinnie. She used to show rabbits while in 4-H years ago, but now she just has two pet rabbits. I can’t believe I didn’t get the very tops of his ears in the picture!

framed

ISO 100, 50mm, f/4.5, 1/15 sec

Day 130 – Framed: I believe it was back on day 68 that I did a photo similar to this one, with just me. This time I decided to have Kelsey join me.

So this wraps up a full week of Capture Your 365 photo prompts for me! Have you started joining in on the fun? Please let me know in the comments so I can visit your post of photos.

Be the voice for a mom today

As I sit in my comfortable home, having just mopped my kitchen floor, I have to wonder what life is like for a mother living in extreme poverty:

The sun has just come up and I know I must get out of bed to fetch water for my family before they all wake up. The journey to get water each day is tiring, but I know that my family needs water to drink and there is a pile of laundry that needs to be done today, as there always is.

I am concerned that my children will stay healthy, so many children in my village have died because of the water and lack of food that we have here.

But I am also hopeful. My children have been attending the Compassion project and they come home excited, sharing about God the Father who takes care of His children. I am trying to learn more about God, but there are so many things I must do to take care of my family each day.

This new baby that I am carrying, I want him or her to be born healthy. Before my children starting attending the Compassion project, I had lost two babies because they got sick after they were born and we did not have the ability to save them.

With the help of someone I have never met, I am able to attend the Compassion project also once a month. They teach me about God. They teach me about nutrition and ways to help me be a good mother. I am so thankful for the many women who take the time to pour into my life. Maybe it is time for me to accept God as my Savior too.

This is a fictional story, but one that could be happening in one of the countries where Compassion helps moms and babies through the Child Survival Program. Many children in impoverished areas do not even survive until their third birthday. But with the help of Compassion and the Child Survival Program, many moms are receiving pre-natal care, get proper nutrition, and learn about the love of Jesus.

This Mother’s Day, would you consider helping a mother and her family? You can make a one-time donation or you can make an ongoing monthly contribution. Whatever you choose, I pray that you have a blessed Mother’s Day!

This post has been written as part a Compassion Blogger’s assignment. You can learn more about Compassion Blogger’s here.

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Please pass the kleenex!

So, last week, I shared with you about the invitation I received to visit my sponsored child, Eduardo, in Mexico. God has been moving mountains over the past week and I did make a deposit on the trip! I have shed so many happy tears over the past week! I still have quite a bit of money to earn, but so many people shared some wonderful ideas that I can put into place to earn the money to go. Here is what I have done so far:

1. I have sold a couple of furniture items (2 unused desks) and some tupperware. I figure this is a great time to go through my home and sell some items we are not using. No point of it sitting around collecting dust. Over the next few weeks, I will be going through the rooms in our home to see what else can be sold.

2. One sweet blogger sent me money to use for my trip! (insert happy tears!!)

3. I revised my ‘public’ Facebook page (Gifts from Our Little Corner) and have begun posting some homemade items to sell. Three batches of cranberry-strawberry jam sold to some of my friends in just a couple of days, so I made 2 batches of strawberry jam yesterday. You can also find some homemade flannel baby blanket and wash cloth sets. See something you like on the page? Be sure to ‘like’ the page and we can negotiate shipping/handling costs if you live out of my area.

4. To keep track of what I am earning toward the trip, I printed out a check register and at the top of the paper I wrote, “The Lord will provide” – Genesis 22:14. This will be a good reminder for me in case any moments of discouragement come up over the next few months as I continue earning money for this trip. If it is His will for me to go on this trip, I believe He will provide the funds in His timing and I need to trust in Him through this whole process.

Over the next few months, I hope to keep you posted on how things are coming along as I prepare for this Compassion trip to Mexico to visit Eduardo. I am so excited about this opportunity!

Capture Your 365

Five pictures for you this week and here they are:

lavender

ISO 100, 116mm, f/4.8, 1/80 sec

Day 111 – Blooming: This lavender plant in my backyard is blooming like crazy! I need to do some cuttings and start drying some of these.

mail

ISO 100, 80mm, f/4.2, 1/4 sec

Day 113 – Mail: I was able to mail off letters to my Compassion kids last week! I hope they enjoy the bookmarks I made for them. Do you send your sponsored kids handwritten letters?

mobile

ISO 100, 55mm, f/4.0, 1/160 sec

Day 114 – Mobile: trying to get back into the routine of walking a few days a week. On my iPod, I have a playlist of upbeat Christian songs. This is a great way for me to focus on how amazing God’s love for me is while I do what I can to keep my body healthy.

oreo moon phases

ISO 100, 50mm, f/4.0, 0.4 sec

Day 115 – Spotlight: When I saw this idea on Pinterest months ago, I penciled in our history book to give this a try. We had just read about the Battle of Marathon in the Mystery of History and one of the activities was to learn about the moon phases. Always fun to combine lessons with food!

fence with poppies

ISO 100, 50mm, f/5.0, 1/250 sec

Day 116 – A Fence: Well, there is a fence behind the California poppies, does that count?

So what have you been taking pictures of this past week? The May list for the Capture Your 365 is now available to print out. Go get the list and join me for capturing the little details of your life.

Just received ‘An invitation to meet Eduardo’

So yesterday in my inbox, I received an e-mail from Compassion with ‘An invitation to meet Eduardo’. Having the chance to visit one of your Compassion sponsored children has got to be the dream of a lot of Compassion sponsors.

About a year and a half ago, we started sponsoring Eduardo and we picked Mexico, hoping that it would be more affordable for me to have the ability to take a trip with Compassion. Do we have the money in the bank to pay for a trip right now? Of course not! But I have already started thinking of ways that I can earn the money necessary to pay for this trip. God knows if I will be going on this trip or not.

Given the chance though, I know this trip will be a life changing experience. I have read many blog posts about bloggers who have visited their sponsored kids (and shed many tears reading those posts!) You can read posts from some of the past trips at the Compassion Bloggers web site.

My pray and hope, that given the chance to go on this trip, or one in the future, that It would give me a better awareness of the effectiveness of Compassion programs so that I can be a better advocate for these kids. This trip wouldn’t be for me, it would be for the millions of children who are growing up, living in extreme poverty, that I could be a voice for them.

If you have any suggestions on ways you have been able to earn about $2500 in a five month period, I would love to hear them! Please leave your ideas in the comments section, and I would love your prayers too!

Update 5/1/13: I am beyond excited! This morning I made a deposit on this trip and picked up my first passport application! Praying for God to direct my efforts for earning the rest of the money over the next few months. Yay!!!