February Compassion Share &Tell

February 21, 2014

It is really hard for me to believe that it has been over a month now since my Compassion trip to Mexico! But it is time to share with you what I have put together to send to my sponsored kids this month. Because I like to send more than a letter, my daughter helped me with this video to share what I am mailing to Felix this month:

Did you enjoy the video? I sure hope you did!

So, here is what I wrote to Felix this month:

Dear Felix,

I was so excited to receive your first letter last month! In fact, I am enclosing a photo of me holding your letter. I love your drawings! In your letter, you asked me to pray for your family, so they will know Jesus. I want you to know that I have been praying for you and your family. I still remember that special time I was able to spend with you at your home on my visit to Mexico. You and your family are very special to me, and I want you to know that Jesus loves you and He is watching over you and your family.

In the Bible, in the book of John, there is a verse which says, "I am the resurrection and the life." - John 11:25. This verse is talking about Jesus and how He dies for us, because of our sin. But each one of us can have a new life in Him! He wants us to know Him and believe in Him. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe that He died for you and that He is your Lord and Savior? I pray that you do!

Right now, it is still winter where I live, but our very first daffodil bulb bloomed! These are plants that we put in the soil of our garden in the fall. Then in the spring time, we are blessed with these cheerful, yellow flowers that let us know spring is on its way! Are there any yellow flowers where you live?

Felix, I pray that you will continue to learn more about God, do well in school, and help your mom around your home. I love you and am looking forward to receiving your next letter!

In the video above, you can see some of the items I have included in the mailing this month. The photo idea of me with the letters came from a fellow Compassion advocate. She shared the idea on her Facebook page recently. The Easter coloring page and the Learn to Draw a Daffodil page are just a couple of items you can find on my Pinterest page or Compassion's Pinterest page.

I would love to read what you have written to your Compassion sponsored child lately. If you have a blog post to share, be sure to link up below

Tackle It on Tuesday: Pants for Mr. Tumnus

February 18, 2014

Last week, I shared that my task I was hoping to tackle of the past week was to complete the furry legs for Kelsey's costume. Was I successful?

Task tackled!! And I have to say, I am so happy that this task is complete. We have just started two weeks of every day rehearsals and I keep reminding myself, 'this is just a season'. We are generally not this busy. In addition to the play, I have been helping to plan and prepare for an upcoming conference. So needless to say, there are some tasks around my home that are not getting done right now. Again, I remind myself, 'this is just a season'.

So during this busy season, what am I hoping to tackle this next week?

Last week, I pulled out this puzzle that had been unopened for quite some time. I thought it might be a great way to reduce a little of the stress that comes with a very busy schedule. My husband and I worked on the outside edges, then Kelsey has spent a bit of time on it. Then, last night, Matthew started in on it. Think we can finish this by next Tuesday? Come back next week and find out!

Do you have a project you would like to tackle in the next week? I would love for you to join me! Let's help keep each other accountable as we tackle projects around our home, so here are the rules:

Below is the link up. Please share the URL for your specific blog post. (Makes it easier for us all to find it.)
Once your post is up, visit the other bloggers. Comment on their post and give them some encouragement to make progress on their project for the week.
Come back next week so we can share our progress. And hey, some projects might take longer than a week! So don't be discouraged if your project is not finished yet. Let's celebrate the step-by-step progress we are making!

Tackle It on Tuesday: My Desk

February 11, 2014

Last week, I shared with you my idea of doing a weekly link up where we share something we would like to tackle over the upcoming week. My project this past week was my desk.

With being out of town for three days over the last week, I wasn't sure if I was going to have a chance to tackle this one project. But Mondays are usually one day out of the week that we are home. So, even though there are still some piles on my desk, I believe it looks a whole lot better than it did the week before!

So what am I planning on tackling this upcoming week?

Back in September, my daughter enrolled in a drama class with a local homeschool group. In just two and a half weeks, they will be performing 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'. Kelsey is playing the part of Mr. Tumnus! (She is really excited about this part!) Well, Mr. Tumnus needs some furry legs. So I will be attempting to take these two yards of furry material and turning them into furry leg pants for Kelsey to wear as part of her costume. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?!? Wish me luck!!

Do you have a project you would like to tackle in the next week? I would love for you to join me! Let's help keep each other accountable as we tackle projects around our home, so here are the rules:

Below is the link up. Please share the URL for your specific blog post. (Makes it easier for us all to find it.)
Once your post is up, visit the other bloggers. Comment on their post and give them some encouragement to make progress on their project for the week.
Come back next week so we can share our progress. And hey, some projects might take longer than a week! So don't be discouraged if your project is not finished yet. Let's celebrate the step-by-step progress we are making!

January Compassion Joy

February 6, 2014

Time to link up with my friend Jill at Compassion Family for her monthly Compassion Joy Dare link up! She encourages each one of us to post about the blessings we receive as sponsors through Compassion, and this past month was an incredible month for me!

Meeting my Compassion child Felix and his family

Most of you know that I was able to go on my first Compassion Sponsor Tour to Mexico where I was able to meet our new sponsored child, Felix! I still have at least one more post to write about our trip, hopefully it will be ready next week.

Received our first letter from Felix after we got home from our trip! I love that he wants us to pray that his family will know Jesus, definitely my constant prayer for his family.

Received a sweet thank you note and pictures from my friend, Olive! I was able to attend her graduation from Denver Seminary in December. She has been a Compassion Leadership Development Program Student. Now that she has completed her studies, she is back in her home country, Uganda. Lord willing, I would love to visit her there one day.

Compassion Bloggers went to Uganda in January

Speaking of Uganda, were you able to follow the Compassion Bloggers on their trip to Uganda last month? Wow, such powerful stories they shared with all of us! Now that I have been on my own trip, I sure do have a new respect for them. How they process their day and write those posts each night just amazes me. God has surely gifted each one of them with incredible writing talent. I pray you have time to read through some of their posts!

One last thing to share with you! Not only was Shirley sponsored by a family at our church (and she attends the same center in Mexico as our Felix!), Rendy from Indonesia now has a sponsor by another family at our church!

January sure was a month filled with Compassion Joy for me! Be sure to head over to Jill's blog to read about the other Compassion Joy's being shared this month.

Compassion Mexico ME975

February 5, 2014

After spending the first part of our trip in the Mexico City area, we flew south to spend the rest of our trip in the state of Chiapas. If you look this up on a map, you will see that we were almost to Guatemala!

On Monday of our trip, part of our group spent the day with their sponsored child, and the rest of us headed to the jungle community of San Jeronimo Tulija. This community is home to approximately 3,500 residents and the children here attend Emanuel Student Center, or ME975. Most of the adults in this community are unemployed, those who do work earn the equivalent of $45 per month by working on plantations. Compassion sponsorship allows the church staff to provide sponsored children with Bible teaching, health screenings, sports, hygiene and health education, community service opportunities, field trips, school supplies, homework supervision, reading workshops, special celebrations, and academic reinforcement.

Of the three centers that Matthew and I had the opportunity to visit, the children at this center were the most receptive and curious!

Lots of children excited that we had arrived!

These children had prepared quite the welcome for us! Once we all had a chance to walk through the crowd of children, we made our way into the church.

Such a sweet little church!

The children welcomed us with quite a few songs.

While the children were singing, quite a few of them climbed up on the 'stage' and sat next to us. Like I said, they were very curious!

After the welcome time, we split up into groups to assist with the children's Bible activity time. The kids in our group were putting together booklets showing how the whole the Bible is laid out. We were able to help the teachers cut up and fold the large sheets of paper the kids were using to make their booklets. Interesting note though, we did not have a translator with our group! Basic Spanish really came in handy during this time! Tres? Quatro? Si!

Matthew had a bit of a motion sickness with the bus ride to this location, so he spent some time with some of the other kids showing them what happens when you put crumpled up paper over a blowing fan. This kept them quite busy with lots of giggles!

These boys loved having their pictures taken!

Before lunch, a few of us walked over with some of the kids to one of the local parks for a quick game of soccer. I tagged along for the walk and to get some pictures.

Matthew and Sean playing keep away with the kids

Another soccer game for Matthew with some of the Compassion kids

Once we arrived back at the church, it was time for lunch. By this time, I was feeling a little overwhelmed with the heat, the humidity (it was very humid this day!), and just everything I was still processing from the trip so far. Tears were streaming down my face and I knew I just needed a break. So I found a spot inside the church to rest.

After the children started finishing up their lunch, quite a few of the girls found me, sat with me, and started asking me questions. Talk about testing my little knowledge of Spanish! We kind of turned it into a game. I would point to something and ask, "Como se dice?" They would then give me the name in Spanish, I would repeat it (and they would laugh at me when I couldn't roll my 'r's'!), then they wanted to know how to say the word in English. This kept us quite busy for some time. A couple of the girls stroked my hair, and they laughed at my white legs. It was a very sweet time!

We had a bit of excitement once we all gathered back into the church. Sharon, one of the ladies on the trip with us, decided to sponsor one of the young girls at this center! Talk about a tear jerking moment!

At this point, we split up into groups again. Sharon, her new sponsored child, and a few of the others went to the child's home for a visit, while the pastor took the rest of us on a walking tour of his community.

This whole area was absolutely beautiful!

The one thing I regret about this whole walk around the community? My camera battery had died! Even though I had another charged battery with me, I had left my camera on the bus. This whole area was so amazingly beautiful (and that water was so tempting to jump into with the kids!), and these photos from my phone just don't do the area justice.

Another area on our tour of the community

But I am so thankful for the time we had here, thankful for this pastor who loves his community and the children, thankful for the many smiles and hugs from so many children, thankful that Compassion is able to come alongside the local churches to help make a difference for these children living in poverty.

There are more children waiting today, for someone like you, to help change their world.

I have one more day of our journey to blog about, you are not going to want to miss it! Hopefully, I can have it ready for you in the next few days.