We’re Losing A Friend, A Part of Our Family

Malnutrition so ravaged his little mind that the seizures began. His mother — out of food and out of options, but full of love — wrapped him in a blanket and kissed him one last time.

She saved his life.

She placed him outside a police station and waited. She hoped. Maybe she even prayed to one or many gods — that her boy would be found and loved, fed and healed.

And he is. Today, he’s my son.

We adopted our son Sambhaji from India five years ago.

He eats Cheerios at my kitchen table instead of parathas at hers. He throws a mean fastball and does better on spelling tests than I ever did — his mind and body have healed well.

He loves to read, pretend he’s Batman, and get mail from his friend Ranjith in India.

Ranjith is growing up in the same small Indian village where Sambhaji lived. My son is Ranjith’s sponsor, pen pal, friend.

 

Click here to read the rest of this article.

Great News

I was going to post something about a really cool app called Scripture Typer this week, but that’s going to have to wait. Compassion Blog posted a blog post that I thought was just awesome.  The entire blog post is great (read it here), but the part I wanted to focus on is toward the bottom.

Three Year Sponsor-versary

Have you ever checked out Compassion’s ‘Children Sponsored Today‘ page? Can you believe that by 9:30 A.M on this relatively uneventful Saturday morning, already 22 children have been sponsored? 22 children’s lives have been changed for the better! It’s phenomenal!

I got an email from Compassion this week in their usual bright, happy blue that proudly announced:

Compassion Bloggers Trip

The Compassion Bloggers are in Ecuador!! This year, it is three women bloggers and their sons that are making the long journey down to Ecuador in order to write of the marvelous miracles God is working down there. The first round of posts came out last night and I thought you all might like to read them.

But first off, who are the Compassion Bloggers? According to Sam Hoover, the Social Media Manager for Compassion International (read entire blog post here):

Who is a Compassion blogger?

Do you have a blog? Do you have a heart for kids around the world who can’t speak up for themselves? Congratulations, friend! You’re a Compassion blogger. You care about the same things we care about and you use your voice to be heard online. Those are really the only requirements it takes to be a Compassion blogger.

Compassion Photo of the Week

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see – Hebrews 11:1

Aren’t those guys so cute? Because of normal people like you and me that God has stirred into action, Joshua and his brother are sponsored and learning how to break the cycle of poverty that they are in. If God is stirring your heart and you would like to sponsor a child, please click here to change the world of a child.

Compassion Photo of the Week

Education is one of the keys to breaking free from poverty’s grasp. Thanks to sponsors like you, these boys in Ghana have a greater chance of finishing school and moving on to higher education!

Compassion has a new thing out…a photo of the week. Here is this Saturday’s. I thought it was so cute!!!

I is for I Am

People call me strange… unbelievable…undoable… But I’m not. I just can’t seem to not notice the wonderful things around me: the sparkling rain, the flashing city lights, the wind that is cold now but is bringing warm weather, and the reminders from my daughter that she has to be at Wednesday church by eight o’clock.

Who am I?

I am Joy.

People call me heroic… passionate…undoable… But I’m not. I just can’t seem not to notice the hurting people around me: the rejected beggar, cold and wet; the single mother, overwhelmed and exhausted; the widower, lonely and lost.

Who am I?

I am Compassion.

People call me unwavering…gentle…undoable… But I’m not. I just can’t seem not to notice that which the Lord and others have given to me: the Bible, the flowers, the rainbow, the hamburger shared with friends.

Who am I?

I am Gratefulness.

People call me blessed…honest… Julie. I can’t seem to not follow my Savior. Joy….giving my life to enrich others. Compassion…sharing my hamburger with the homeless man on the street. Gratefulness…thanking Jesus for every day I have with my daughter, sharing His love.

Who am I?

I am Christian.

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Written for Thursday 360. Congratulations to Grand Champion, John Mark Miller!!! It didn’t quite go together as good as I was hoping…but oh well. 

#Giving Tuesday

Hey everyone!

Don’t forget that today is #GivingTuesday to help people in Gujarat, India. Already, $4,580 dollars have been raised!!! (Awesome!!!!)  Please, help raise the remaining $20,420 dollars needed here.

Thanks again,

CC

#GivingTuesday

Isn’t the little one so adorable?? You can help others like this family with Compassion’s #GivingTuesday

#Giving Tuesday is one of Compassion’s ministries to help newborns and their mothers in India. Nearly one in every three newborn deaths in the world occurs in India. And because every year, more than two million children under age five die in India. Funding the center in India will help the women by preparing the moms with training to help care for their babies, helping mothers learn to read and write, giving children a safe place to learn and grow, ensuring lifesaving medical care for babies and moms, proclaiming the hope of God to families living in poverty.

Pushparani’s first child was born the color of a bruise. He was one of the 30,000 babies in India each year who don’t survive their first day. And then, less than a year later, Pushparani buried another child, this time a daughter who lived for just two months.

Then, a third pregnancy. But this one would be different. This time, Pushparani had the support of the Child Survival Program that had recently opened in her community.

Every moment of this pregnancy Pushparani felt cared for and loved. She was well-nourished and went to regular prenatal appointments. When the time came to give birth to her son, she did so in a hospital, surrounded by friends who had prayed her out of the darkest place of her life.

Pushparani held her son in her arms, her little Ishu. Ray of light. A reminder of God’s promises.

“I owe what I am today to Compassion’s Child Survival Program,” says Pushparani. “Had I not been in the Child Survival Program, I would have ended my life. And now, I have big dreams for my son, Ishu — dreams of a healthy, happy child with hopes of the future. It did not seem possible before, but now I am filled with great hope and my dreams for my son will become reality. I look upon God and I will hold on to my dream.”

– Taken from Compassion’s website.

Compassion is asking for $25,000 dollars to help the Indian women. I know it sounds like a lot but…$605 dollars have already been raised. And it’s not even Tuesday yet. If everyone pitches in a little bit, generations of women and children will be helped.

“Which is why we want to focus our Giving Tuesday efforts this year on funding a Child Survival Program in a small community in Gujarat, India.

The realities these mothers face look very different from the ones my own mother faced.

The average woman is just 18 when she becomes a mother here.

She has four children.

More than 70 percent of the mothers here give birth in their homes.

Their children are malnourished.

And they are surrounded by illiteracy, alcoholism, child labor, child marriage and abuse.

Yet, in each of these young moms beats a mother’s heart. One who wants to provide for her child — to provide food and shelter and laughter and joy. She wants her child to have sweet memories, a favorite toy that brings him comfort.

All of that, and more, is possible through the Child Survival Program. The center we are funding this year, Calvary Child Survival Center, is full of moms who need your support. Who need you to release the burden of poverty and provide a place for their children to learn and grow and play.”

– Taken from Compassion’s blog.

With as little as one penny or $100.00 dollars, you can make a difference in a small community in Gujarat, India. You could help save one person. You could also help to save ten thousand people. All it takes is one donation.

Please, help these people here and change Gujarat, India.

Read more about it here.

From The Inside Out

We have recently start the yearly process of oiling our saddles. If we don’t, they become hard, brittle, and break sooner. They stop being waterproof. They don’t look as good.

They fall to pieces.

Half of the oiling, however, is under the saddle flaps and fenders, where all the pieces and parts are that hold the saddle together. There saddles have stitchings and rivets vital to your saddle’s survival. Without them, your saddle would fall apart as soon as it was picked up. (Saddles like that don’t work very good!!)

It wouldn’t work if I only oiled the outside to make it look good. The vital rivets and stitching would fall to pieces while the outside looked amazing. It wouldn’t do any good to do only the inside either. Sure, the inside would hold together, but I need the outside as well to sit on and plus, it would look pretty awful after a while too.

Have you ever thought about our own lives? How many times do we try to ‘oil’ the outside without reaching into the spots that hold us together? Yes, I totally agree, it’s tedious. It’s hard. It takes a lot of twisting the brushes and patience to try and get that one spot that you can’t quite reach but really needs to get done.

For instance, you can’t have the inward ‘love your God with all your heart, soul, and strength’ if you don’t have the outward ‘love your neighbor as your self’. Neither can you have a ‘heart’ for the needy and yet not help them in any physical way.

What are you oiling? The inside? Or the outside?

Help a child here.

Give lifesaving water here.

Give a Bible to someone who needs one here.