The inequality of it all

June 5, 2014

This morning, I put on my new sneakers, plugged headphones into my iPhone, started up my walking playlist, and headed out on the concrete sidewalks around my safe neighborhood for my one mile morning walk. Not a big deal, right? A lot of people start their morning like this, why should mine be any different.

But then I start thinking....thinking about our walk to Felix's home just months ago...thinking about our other Compassion kids and wondering what their neighborhoods are like...are they safe? are they scared?

I feel my eyes filling with tears...and I get angry, frustrated, and disappointed that more people don't step up to sponsor a child through Compassion.

But then I remember something I read just this week:

"Let's be honest: it's hard to swallow the fact that some people won't believe in you or what you're doing. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. It just means you've got to remember who you're doing it for." - Kristen Welch from 'Rhinestone Jesus'

And then I am humbled...we have only been sponsoring children for 4 1/2 years...and we are only financially sponsoring 4 children. There are many people who are doing so much more for God than we are, and have been doing it for so much longer than us.

Then I read this:

"When it comes to building God's Kingdom, the "bigger is better" mentality doesn't apply" - Kristen Welch from 'Rhinestone Jesus'

God is helping us to make a difference in the lives of a few children. It may not seem like a lot to us. But as I have been processing through these thoughts this morning, I have to remember, for these four children and their families, our small sacrifice is making a big difference.

Sometimes, child sponsorship is hard

May 29, 2014

First, there was Natalia, our very first Compassion sponsored child. We started sponsoring her 4 1/2 years ago after reading blog posts of a friend's trip to India to visit his own sponsored children. We chose her because she was close in age to my own daughter. At the beginning of our sponsorship journey, we really didn't get it yet. So when we learned that Natalia's family had moved away from the project area just a few short months after we started sponsoring her, it wasn't really too hard to go online and choose another child to sponsor. That is when we started sponsoring Lina, who we have been sponsoring now for almost four years. And I am hoping to go visit her in February 2015 on a Compassion Sponsor Trip!

LIna, our Compassion sponsored child from Colombia

Then there was Eduardo. Sweet little Eduardo from Mexico! He was the little guy I was planning on visiting when I initially paid my deposit for the January 2014 Compassion trip to Mexico. We had been sponsoring him for a year and a half at that time. But shortly after I had paid the deposit for my trip, we learned that his center had closed and there was going to be no way I could visit him. I was devastated. It wasn't until our trip in January that I found out that God had a reason for us to choose another child. Although, He knew all along which child I needed to be connected with. Felix and I have a connection. One that I know, personally, is hard to live through. But because of this connection, I know how to pray for Felix and his family.

Felix, our Compassion sponsored child in Mexico

Then in October of 2012, we started sponsoring Katherinne for our daughter Kelsey. Katherinne is just a few months older than Kelsey and she is from El Salvador. Now that my son and I have been on a Compassion Sponsor Trip together, we have talked about Kelsey and I going to El Salvador some time in the near future so we could visit Katherinne. After many months of letter writing back and forth between Katherinne and Kelsey, we received an e-mail last week that Katherinne's parents have removed her from the program. And just like that, she is no longer a part of our 'family'.

As a Compassion sponsor and advocate, we hear statistics quite frequently which are quite depressing about the number of children living in poverty, without clean drinking water, and the number of children dying each and every day. Because the numbers are so big, it is hard to think about those numbers being actual children with a name, and a family.

But as a Compassion sponsor, we are in a relationship with children living in another country. They become a part of our family. We love them, we pray for them, we write letters to them, and we get excited when their letters arrive in our mailbox.

When that relationship is abruptly ended, it is hard. But God never said life on earth was going to be easy. We will go through trials and hardships. And as hard as it is to say 'goodbye' to the children we have 'lost' as sponsored children, there are many more who are still waiting for a sponsor today.

A couple of days ago, Kelsey chose another child to 'replace' Katherinne.

This is Alfredo, he is a four year old little guy from Mexico. So it looks like, in the near future, I may have a chance to take my daughter to Mexico too!

Yes, sometimes child sponsorship is hard, but I believe God knows what He is doing. And I will continue to trust in Him with the children He places in our family.

Tackle It on Tuesday: Homemade Pizza Sauce

May 27, 2014

This past week I tackled - Homemade Pizza Sauce

One thing my family loves to eat is pizza, especially homemade pizza! We keep our pizza pretty basic: homemade pizza dough, homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, little bit of cheddar cheese, and Parmesan cheese.

On the day that I have made up a batch of sauce, of course we will have pizza that night for dinner.

I bet you are wondering how I freeze up the rest of that pizza sauce. So glad you asked! I take individual snack size bags and put in about 1/4-1/2 cup of sauce. I just kind of eyeball it, no magic here. Then all of those individual bags, I place them in one big freezer bag.

Homemade pizza sauce, ready for the  freezer — Homemade pizza sauce, ready for the freezer

Then that one big freezer bag hangs out in my freezer with all of that wonderful pizza sauce, ready for the next time we have homemade pizza. One nice thing about storing the pizza sauce in those individual snack size bags? Makes thawing quick and easy.

Yes, we do like to get pizza from our favorite pizza place in town. But having the ingredients on hand for homemade pizza makes it do-able to have a homemade dinner in about an hour.

To tackle this week - Letters from Scrap Fabric

One project I have pinned is to make Letters from Scrap Fabric. Since I have quite a bit of scrap fabric, I thought this would be a good way for me to use up some of my scrap fabric and make a fun project to sell to earn money for my next Compassion trip.

Think this is something you would like to purchase? Be sure to like my Facebook page, Gifts from Our Little Corner, where I am selling homemade items to earn money for my Compassion travels. Then check back next week to see how I tackled this project!

What project are you working on this week?

Hope Rising by Scott Todd: Review and Giveaway

May 22, 2014

Now, I know I have talked about before here on my blog that I really did not enjoy English class in high school. The thought of reading a book, then having to put into words a review of the book is enough to make me cringe. But a blogging friend of mine share with me a link to BookLook Bloggers, which is a book review web site which will give bloggers a free copy of a book in exchange for reviewing the book on your blog. I decided to take a peek and was excited to see they had the following book available for review:

As a Compassion sponsor and advocate, I was excited to see another book written by Scott Todd, who is the Senior Vice President of Global Advocacy for Compassion International.

Summary - The basic summary of this book is that God is doing a work around the world to end extreme poverty, but there is still work to do. Each one of us has been called by God to take care of our brother in need (1 John 3:17-18). As an individual, poverty is a big problem that seems really overwhelming to tackle on our own. But there are steps that each and every one of us can take to reach out to at least one person to make a difference.

My reaction - I loved the book!

This 193 page book is broken up into five parts with a total of 30 chapters, which makes it a manageable book to read in a short period of time.
Dr. Todd provides some alarming statistics on many topics, but also shares how we have been making strides in many areas to give us hope for ending extreme poverty in the near future.
The book is about giving each one of us hope, the hope that by doing something we can make a difference.
The chapter on 'Stewards of Power' was inspiring to me: "We are all stewards of all that God has entrusted to us, including the power we have to make things happen." God allowed us to be born in this country for a reason. He has given us many resources, talents, and gifts. In our own power, we are weak. But in His power, He can accomplish great things when we are willing to follow Him.
Dr. Todd shares that "if we don't tell them about Jesus, what will we truly accomplish?" Feeding the poor, building wells, and providing clothing is not going to save those living in extreme poverty. Teaching them about the love of Jesus, this is where their hope lives. And this is being done effectively through the local churches in many communities around the world.
We are reminded in this book that God wants us to care for the poor. Dr. Todd shares many Bible verses in this book about God's call for us to remember the poor.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book if you feel God calling you to make a difference for children growing up in extreme poverty in many countries around the world. I know that for some, this is not the call they feel God leading them to. But if you love God, you need to love His people. And sometimes loving His people means sacrificing a little of your time and/or money so that a child can live another day.

Giveaway! - Would you like to have a copy of this book? I happened to pre-order a copy of this book before I signed up to do a review, so I have one to giveaway! How to enter? Just comment below, 'I would love this book'! Yep, that simple. Be sure to leave a comment by Wednesday, May 28th at midnight PST. (Giveaway open to residents of the United States only.)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”