Watching God Work

Many of you know that I love volunteering at Compassion events. I love being able to answer questions people have, and help them start their journey of sponsoring a child. 

But at many of these events, I have had the opportunity to be part of watching God work in some pretty amazing ways!

This past weekend, I spotted little Abreham from Ethiopia...

I usually try to find a child who has a birthday the same day as someone in my family, and little Abreham's was as close as I could find. His birthday is on December 7th, which is right between my daughter's birthday and mine.

So I sent his picture to my daughter so she could be praying that someone would come along and sponsor Abreham.

Well then, on Sunday afternoon, a family came through and saw little Abreham. One of the daughter's said, "Look mom, he has the same birthday as me!" The daughter took down Abreham's packet as the family looked around at other children waiting to be sponsored.

That is when I heard the mom say her daughter's name. I thought I heard what she said, but I asked her again what her daughter's name is...her daughter's name is Kelsey.

My daughter's name is Kelsey!

What are the chances that a little girl with the same name as my own daughter, whose birthday is the same day as Abreham's, who is the little boy my daughter has been praying for, and that little girl would come through the Compassion Experience event that day??

This one family decided to sponsor five (yes, FIVE!) children that day!

God is an awesome God!! He knew this would happen and He allowed me to be a part of it. 

What ways have you been able to watch God work lately?

My One Word for 2016

Ever since I saw The War Room movie, there is one thing I have been wanting to do more of. If you have seen The War Room movie, I am sure you can guess what that one thing is:

Photo courtesy of Compassion International

Over the past couple of months, I have read through The Battle Plan for Prayer book and want to work on making prayer a more focused part of my Christian walk, each and every day.

Webster's 1828 dictionary defines 'pray' as:

"In worship, to address the Supreme Being with solemnity and reverence, with adoration, confession of sins, supplication for mercy, and thanksgiving for blessings received."

Today, I was out doing a bit of shopping and saw 1 Thessalonians 5:17 on a plaque and I just knew I needed to choose 'pray' as my One Word for 2016.

Will it be an easy word to focus on?

Probably not...but I know I want a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus. What better way to do this than through having conversations with Him all through the day.

Have you chosen One Word for 2016?

Build a Bond Through Prayer

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." - 1 John 5:14

Do you agree that when you pray for someone, you feel closer to that person? I feel this is especially true about our Compassion sponsored children. Yes, I have met Felix, so I do feel a special attachment to him. But through prayers and letters, I know God has knit my heart to the other children we sponsor and write to.

If you are looking for a way to build a bond through prayer with your sponsored children, I have something to share with you today!

When you received your welcome booklet, inside is a bookmark. On the back of that bookmark are daily prayer prompts to pray for your sponsored child. I love these bookmarks and I use them quite frequently! But I thought...wouldn't it be great if these were cards instead that could be used at our table so as a family we could be praying for our Compassion kids?

So I asked my talented art director husband if he would be willing to use his creativity to help me out...and here is what he came up with!

Aren't these gorgeous!

There is one card for every day of the month.

And I am making them available for you to print and use at home as well!

You can access the folder of prayer cards by clicking here. Or you can click on the individual pictures above.

I would recommend printing these out on cardstock so they are a little more durable. You can even laminate them or cover them with clear contact paper. Punch a hole in the top left corner and attach all the cards to a ring. You and your family are now ready to pray daily for your Compassion sponsored children around the world.

I am making these prayer cards available as a gift to you, my readers. Please do not sell or reprint these images. Thank you.

10 weeks from today

10 more weeks!

Hard to believe that 10 weeks from today, my son and I will be sitting on a plane heading for Mexico City on a sponsor tour with Compassion International!! I know this is going to be a life changing adventure for both of us and I want to make sure that my heart is prepared for our journey.  

In our trip journals, they encourage us to pray early and often for the trip. They even provide specific prayer prompts! How amazing is that! 

Over the next ten weeks, I will be adding a new book to my morning Bible time which will help me spend some focused time in prayer at the beginning of each day. 

 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

- 1 John 3:18 

Would you join us in prayer for our trip?