ISO 100, 68mm, f/4.2, 1/3 sec
Great and abundant blessings
Abner is one of my correspondent children that I have been blessed to write to for over two years now. He is such a sweetheart and I just love receiving letters from him! Here is what he wrote in his latest letter I received this week:
Latest drawing from Abner
Dear Yvonne Reynolds
Sponsor, what a beautiful day, it is so sunny! I am so happy to write again to you and be able to tell you so many things that have happened in my life. I want to thank you for your beautiful letter, card and lovely words. As for your questions: my favorite song is El Burrito Sabanero. ON Christmas, we have a dinner together and the next day, take a walk and share as a family. I liked so much the Bible verse at Ephesians 4:7; the things God sends us are to put them into practice. I want you to know what I am like: I am 4'6" tall and weigh 72 pounds. The color of my eyes is dark brown and my hair is black. I like to wear comfortable clothes. My favorite colors are orange, brown and green. My favorite cartoon is The Ninja Turtles and my favorite movies is Lion King. I would like to know: where do you live? What is your favorite movies? I tell you I pray for you every day that God will bless you. I would like you to include me in your prayers. I would like you to read Psalm 119:1-2. I say goodbye with a strong hug and wishing you great and abundant blessings.
Sincerely, Abner
I love how much he shared with me this time! I had to go online and find out more about his favorite song since I have never heard of it before. I was able to find a video with spanish and english lyrics. And I found Lion King coloring pages I can send to him in my next letter!
Have you received a letter from your sponsored child lately?
Tackle It on Tuesday: Pinterest recipes
My 'Recipes I would love to try' board on Pinterest has over 400 pins, which is the equivalent of the average cookbook. Every now and then, I like to give those recipes a try because making the same things every week just gets a little boring. This past week, I actually tried three recipes and here is what I thought about each one:
5-Ingredient Bacon Asparagus Pasta
5-Ingredient Bacon Asparagus Pasta was the first new recipe I tried last week. All of the ingredients sounded wonderful! Bacon, asparagus, pasta, white wine, parmesan cheese...heavenly right? My husband loved this one, and he loved it even more the next day as leftovers. But something about it just didn't sit well with me...something about the bacon and the bacon grease. So I am thinking of changing this one up a bit with Italian sausage instead of the bacon...
Recipe #2 for the week...Pan Roasted Lemon Chicken. Again, the ingredients sounded amazing, but for some reason, the flavors didn't come through when I cooked up the recipe. I was really hoping this one would be a keeper because my husband really likes chicken for dinner...bummer!
Coconut Cream Bundt Cake
After two strikes so far, I was a little reluctant to try recipe #3. But this recipe was for dessert, and really, how can you go wrong with dessert? After finding all of the ingredients I needed for this one, I must say, this was really good and will be moved to my Pinned it, tried it...it's a keeper board!
This week, my project I need to tackle moves me from the kitchen to my sewing room...
Chemise
One of the reasons we were able to participate in Civil War Reenactments is because I did a lot of sewing for myself and my daughter. It is hard to believe the layers of clothing women wore during that time period and how expensive it is to buy those items today. Right now, we don't go to nearly as many events as we used to, so I am not making near as many outfits either, but a friend of mine has asked me to sew some items for her. The plan is to finish up her underclothes before this upcoming weekend and this chemise is just one of the items I am working on. Next week, I hope to share with you about some of the underclothes ladies wore during that time...makes you thankful for modern times.
How Majestic is Your Name
ISO 100, 18mm, f/8.0, 1/125 sec - Yosemite National Park, April 2013
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! - Psalm 8:1
Linking up with Scripture and a Snapshot
Love is an Action
One of the things I love about social media is meeting people all over the world who share the same passion as you. Before our Mexico trip, a young lady contacted me to see if I could take a couple of gifts with us to deliver to Compassion children that she corresponds with. I was very happy to do this for her! I also learned that she has a blog and makes bracelets for sponsors. I told her I would love to interview her for my blog and she agreed! So let me introduce you to Lizzie...
1. Tell me a little bit about yourself
My name is Lizzie, and I am a sophomore in high school. I love helping out with Sunday school at my church in the four-year-old room and just being around little kids in general. I also enjoy writing letters and e-mails, biking, learning Spanish, and trying new dessert recipes.
2. How did you first learn about Compassion?
I've known about Compassion for a very long time. I remember that when I was really little my church supported two Compassion children. I think one of the children was a teen boy from Guatemala whose name was Bear. When my family would leave church, I remember asking my mom to go and see their photos on the bulletin board. At one point, my family wrote letters to them. I remember my sister and I making drawings for them with pastels.
3. Why did you decide to sponsor with Compassion?
Even though I had heard of Compassion when I was very young, I forgot about it for a long time because we started going to a different church. In 2011, I was re-introduced to Compassion. I received an e-mail from them about sponsoring a child. I couldn't sponsor a child at that time, but I learned about the correspondence program - within six months, I had three correspondent children. I really loved getting to write and know my correspondent children. Through different blogs, I learned what Compassion does and the importance of it. I decided that I really wanted to financially sponsor a child because I could see that it changed lives. In February 2012, I sponsored my first child!
4. Tell me about your sponsorship bracelets
A sponsor bracelet is a bracelet with a bead (it could be wood, stone, etc!) from each country you sponsor in. The hope with sponsor bracelets is that others will comment on the unique bracelet which will give the sponsor an opportunity to share about their kiddos and Compassion (or whatever organization they sponsor through).
5. Is there a country where Compassion works that you would really like to visit one day?
Yes. Actually I would love to visit all the countries that Compassion works in! Probably though if I had to choose one country to visit, I would go to Indonesia. My first correspondent child Aprila lives in Indonesia and I would love to meet her and see her home, project, and community! Honestly, though, I would be thrilled to see Compassion in the field in any of the countries they work in.
Doesn't she sound like a neat young lady? Right now, Lizzie is making plans to go to Mexico herself! Her trip is not a Compassion trip, but I would still love to support her and spread the word about the bracelets she is making to help her earn money for her trip. So stop by her blog, and purchase a couple of bracelets from her today!