Ten buck challenge!

Ten bucks.

I spent that much on lunch yesterday. And then I spent that much on a shirt.

So, do I have another ten bucks to spare?

Yes. I do.

You probably do too. Especially when your lunch, shirt, 2gallons of gas…could help protect a child from Malaria. And it was super easy to do. I really encourage you to contribute to this…they deserve it! And, Anne is trying to get 50 nets in 50 hours. Easy right!? For you, it means 10 (or 30 if you can do 3 nets…and so on..) bucks…but for the world it ends up being 50 children protected. Just because one lady, who was changed by her experiences in Africa (which I totally relate to!) decided to step out and encourage her online pals to step out. She also has the code available for the banner…

So? Do you have 10bucks and 3 minutes?

22 year old buys skirt from QVC, and cries over her sponsored kids!

I just bought a skirt off of QVC. I think I just aged about 50 years. I might be the only 23 year old to ever buy anything from QVC. But I have to say, it was just so cute! And after a day out and about with the girls, and NOT buying any clothes, I feel it was atleast a little justified. It’s a cute yellow color with dots…We’ll see how this goes.

It’s also past midnight and I’m super tired. Hope I’m not totally disappointed when I get it on April 9 (according to their handy dandy delivery estimater!)…

Don’t judge me.
It was pretty.
And they have a free return policy thing.

If this was a real conversation, I’d be embarassed. But only a little, ’cause I think I’m gunna like it.

And on a more serious note, I got my sponsor packet from Compassion… I cried when I opened it. Just thinking about how I have given them hope, and am helping to lessen the load on their family, that’s amazing. And they know my name, and I know theirs. Prayer, crossing oceans, crossing language borders, crossing age gaps, joining hearts. Amazing, right?

I’ll be praying for my sweet little kiddos in my possibly cute/possibly ugly QVC skirt!

That’s right, I just talked about QVC and sponsoring children in the same post. ‘Cause my mommy raised me right!

Paloma and Paloma

I’m pretty sure I’m writing for myself on this thing. But that’s alright…maybe it’s a less crazy way of talking to yourself? kidding…kinda.

Anywho, I thought I would share about my other “child” today.

She’s from Brazil and has a super cool name. I have to admit, that was a small part of why I chose her. I thought about all of the cool letters between us…”Hi Paloma, it’s Paloma.” Being that I’ve only met one other person with my name (who wasn’t as excited about it as I was, sadly) it’s pretty neat.

Anyways, she’s an adorable little 3 year old girl with curly hair (also makes her cool…do you see a theme here?), who lives with her mother and father. I can’t wait to write to her and get her letters with cute little drawings of flowers and stories of her days in Kindergarten/Preschool.

I just feel honored to be able to make a difference in 2 children’s lives. To help the parents support their families. To let them know that someone across the world cares about them and likes to hear about their favorite games. It all comes back to what we did in South Africa…connecting people across the world because we are all God’s beloved children.

So, thinking about it??? If it is something you feel God nudging you to do..go for it, you can make a difference in a little child’s life, in their family, in their community, in this world.

What did you do this morning?

I chose 2 kids.

What!?

For quite some time now I’ve been thinking about sponsoring a child, but was lazy about it, or unsure of who to sponsor through.

Today I made a difference in this big world by making a big difference in the small worlds of 2 children.

I will introduce you to each of them.

Jully is my little boy. He lives in Kenya with his grandmother and 2 other children in the family. His grandmother sometimes works as a farmer. A farmer. Can you imagine your own grandmother working SOMETIMES…and as a FARMER? And working to support 3 children. After losing your children?

Kenya is also an area affected by HIV/AIDS. The thought that maybe this opportunity will help steer him away from situations that put him at risk of contracting such a thing makes me so hopeful. Which is part of why I think sponsorships work. Aside from practical help for the child-which then takes some of the financial burden off the family, allowing them to better support the other family members- it offers a child across the world a new kind of hope. A hope that someone across the world saw their photo, their eyes, their smile, and read their story, and felt Compassion for them. A stranger, reaching out because they saw a need. Imagine that. Imagine if that’s how everybody lived. That’s how Jesus lived. That’s how I want to live.

This little boy with big beautiful eyes and a look of disappointment in the way his life is turning out now has some hope. Not because I’m amazing, not because his grandmother isn’t hard working (I have no doubt that she collapses into bed each night exhausted from physical labor and emotional stress), it’s only because I realized I could do it. $32 a month to make a difference in the life of not only Jully, but his grandmother, siblings, and community. Maybe even the world. Maybe he’ll become someone who continues this chain of change in this sad world. I hope so. I pray so. I hope to be one more person who encourages him to become a man of God. A man who treats others as God calls him to. A man who WILL make this world a better place just because of his presence in it.

I saw his photo and read the little information that the website provides at this stage, and immediately had this image of his grandmother. Jully has been waiting for over 6months (not sure of exactly how much longer) to be sponsored. This means that for atleast 6 months Jully and his family have been watching other children get sponsored and wondering why no one has chosen him yet. That broke my heart. It broke it more than once. Hopefully it will never be the same.

I pictured his beautiful, tired, worried, hopeful grandmother hearing that Jully had been chosen. I pictured her smile, her tears of relief, the hugging that would happen. I want her to know that even if they struggle, she isn’t the only one supporting him. I want to give her a tangible piece of God’s support.

And all it took was for me to say that I can shop less, be more mindful of how I spend my money, and use what I’ve been given for the good of someone else. Is that something you can do? I understand what it’s like to be broke. And for years I wasn’t able to do this, but now I can, and I love that God blessed me with this job so that I can do things like this. And even if you can’t do it alone, $32 a month is not a lot of money if you pool together each month with friends, family, bible study group, co-workers..whoever feels the same way.

Pray about it. I pray that through these children, the love of God in this world, in their communities, will be seen and felt and noticed. I pray that someday there will no longer be a need for organizations like this.

But until then, there are people like us.

I’ll introduce my other child later, I think this post got long enough and I want to let you stew in those thoughts for a while. See what you and your bank account can cook up. (get it? stew, cook up? anyways…)