God has a plan

I have to admit, when I first read the first Compassion Blogger assignment for this month, I was thinking, ‘No Way! I really don’t want to revisit my childhood and write a blog post to my childhood self!’ But as the assignment kept weighing on me the last two weeks, I remembered that this assignment is not about me, it is about the children living in extreme poverty, that need you and me to step out in faith, and remind them that God has a plan for their life.

rock and worship roadshow

You see, I should not be at this place in my life. I should not be here, asking you to sponsor a child, to release a child from poverty in Jesus’ name. As a child, I had no relationship with Jesus. I didn’t know that He had a plan for my life that was so different than the plan I had for my life.

If things has gone ‘my way’, I would not be writing to you, asking you to be an advocate for children growing up in extreme poverty. I would be a selfish, corporate ladder climbing, working mom, only concerned about my needs and wants.

But 19 years ago, Jesus began working on my heart, drawing me closer to Him, until 14 years ago, I asked Him to be my Savior. The path He has had me on is completely different that any path I imagined myself to be on. I mean, think about it, to go from a Nordstrom clothes wearing women working on going into management to being a capris and t-shirt wearing women who is looking forward to visiting children living in extreme poverty? Only Jesus can make that kind of change in someone’s life.

So yes, God does have a plan. He has a plan to bring many of us into a relationship with Him. And He has plans for many Compassion children to make a difference in the lives of their families and their communities. But in order to do that, they need your help. Would you consider making a sacrifice? Can you and your family do without $38 a month so that a child can realize the plan that God has for their life?

Capture Your 365

Another week…another week of Capture Your 365 photos!

bright background
bright background

ISO 800, 50mm, f/4.0, 1/40 sec

Day 243 – Bright Background: We have had a lot of overcast evenings lately and I thought I would try something different for this photo prompt. At first, I was going to photograph the pink clouds as the sun was setting, but them I saw this huge area of sunflowers. The breeze was blowing, so I had to hold the sunflower to keep it from blurring in the photo.

everywhere a sign
everywhere a sign

ISO 800, 50mm, f/5.0, 1/60 sec

Day 244 – Everywhere a Sign: Birthdays a pretty special days around here! I made this birthday banner a few years ago. We hang it up the night before the person’s birthday, and it usually stays up for days after the special day.

still life
still life

ISO 800, 50mm, f/3.5, 1/125 sec

Day 245 – Still Life: Homemade chocolate chip cookies and homemade iced coffee…just because

back to school
back to school

ISO 800, 50mm, f/3.5, 1/80 sec

Day 246 – Back to School: Starting year 15 of homeschooling and my only student this year requested homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I thought I would add homemade smoothies to make breakfast just a little more healthy.

indulge yourself
indulge yourself

ISO 200, 50mm, f/2.0, 1/800 sec

Day 247 – Indulge Yourself: One of my favorite places at home is our backyard beach retreat. After lunch on nice afternoons, I will head out there with a homemade iced coffee and a book. It is the perfect way for me to recharge after a busy morning.

on the left
on the left

ISO 1600, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/5 sec

Day 249 – On The Left: My son is one creative, musical young man. He was watching some videos from a band called Rend Collective Experiment one evening. After watching the videos, he decided to recreate one of the instruments they were using in the video. Doesn’t it make the perfect prop for this photo prompt?

Did you capture photos and share them on your blog this week? Be sure to let me know if the comments. I would love to visit your blog and see your week capture in photos!

Photo Treasure Hunt: Green Treasures

Last week, my friend Jill and I announced our new blog hop for our Photo Treasure Hunt! This past week our goal was to collect photos of green things as we go about our days. With my iPhone in hand, I was able to find quite a few green things, did you?

mailbox
mailbox

On a bike ride with my daughter, we saw this fun mailbox at a neighbor’s house

grapes
grapes

I had some green grapes with my lunch one day

material
material

Working on a sewing project for my daughter with a different shade of green

sign
sign

Bike rental sign in Yosemite

trees
trees

Lots of tall trees outside a window at the Ahwahnee Hotel

leaves
leaves

Lots of green leaves still in Yosemite, sign that it is still summer

highway sign
highway sign

Highway sign that leads to one of my favorite places

produce
produce

Found just a few green produce items at the grocery store, I like getting my bananas with a hint of green on them so they last a little longer

avocado
avocado

I had avocado on my BLT last night with dinner, oh yum!

Are you ready to join us for the blog hop? I sure do hope so! We have a few rules we would like to put out there for those of you who would like to join us:

Link up by posting blog post URL- not just blog URL

Link back to one of us (grab button if desired)

Visit other blogs and leave comment love.

Be sure to take note of next theme and start collecting more photos.

We reserve the right to remove any links that don't fit the link up theme or that we find inappropriate

Thank you Jill for putting these rules together for us!

Our theme for this next week is my favorite color…Blue! So this next week, be on the lookout for blue items. Then come share with us next Tuesday, September 17th as we all share our blue photos together on our blogs.

So grab the code for the Photo Treasure Hunt button here:

Compassion Blogger Assignment: Hope

12_Jul_clouds_001_edit

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary gives this definition for the word ‘hope’: a desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable.

As a child, we have hope for many things: the love of our parents, friends to play with, presents to open on Christmas morning. Simple things that we expect most children to be happy with.

But imagine what it must be like for a child living in extreme poverty. Maybe they have lost one or both parents, maybe they must work to help pay for basic needs of their family so they have no time to play with friends, maybe they have never received a Christmas gift. Simple things that most of us living in this country take for granted.

As a Compassion sponsor, you can give hope to a child living in extreme poverty. You may or may not be able to physically give your sponsored child anything other than the letters you write to them, but you will be showing them the love of Jesus by investing in their life. Are you ready to share the hope of Jesus with a Compassion child today? There are many waiting….