July 4th!

Happy 4th of July!!!

I love fireworks so much, and today is really, really special. We bake a cake and put lots of frosting on it. And we watch the fireworks go off outside. And we smile because everything is so beautiful.

Emmy, this is for you. ♥

Emmy, you will always be my little strawberry. I love you so, so much and so, so beyond words. I'm sure you would love the fireworks here. They are just for you.

I love you, little sis. ♥♥

Five Days In Uganda

From January 27th through the 31st, Compassion Bloggers is returning to Uganda after five years of sharing stories of helping impoverished children.  In five days, through blog writing, the goal is to have 400 children sponsored.  

That's not a very big number, is it?

For only $36 a month, you can give a child in poverty the opportunity to hear and learn about Jesus, a good education, hygiene training, health care, good meals and a caring, safe and Christian environment to grow in.  

 Over 1 million children have been sponsored through Compassion International since it began in 1952.  Of the goal for 400, over ten children have already been sponsored!

Somewhere, a little boy or girl is needing the love of Jesus.  They need to know what real love and hope is.  You can give them the care they need if you choose to sponsor an impoverished child through Compassion.

Click this link here for more info about the 2014 trip to Uganda, as well as a Trip Banner that you can share on Pinterest, your blog, or Facebook.

Just imagine living on $1.25 a day.  Wouldn't you want someone to help you and tell you about Jesus?

Now is 400 really a big number?

A Worn-out Coat

 

I live in Kenya. Every day, I walk miles and miles along a dusty road to my little school, grasping my bucket tightly so I can get water for my mother on the way back. She cooks our food and washes our clothes with my water. We also drink from it. It is dirty yellow-brown from all the mud.

I've worn the same torn and tattered coat ever since my big brother grew too big for it. My mother gave it to me and I've played in it until it's become the same color as the dirt that I walk on. But I am thankful for what I have and I will keep on wearing it until it is just a patched-up rag.

Sometimes I wish we had more clothes, clean water and three meals every day. But, like many of my friends, we are poverty-stricken and don't have the money for everything we need. And that is why I still wear my worn-out coat.

(This is a post for Compassion Blog Month. Please join in the fight against poverty.)

~Adoption (Part II)~

On many days, I click over to adoption websites, hoping to find resources and requirements. I am always on the search for the ability to convince my parents to adopt at least one little orphan! But I realize these current laws may be obsolete by the time I myself reach the required age to adopt.
I've been looking into Haitian adoption, but I  never knew the established law is that one must be at least 35 years of age and 19 years older than the requested child. I was thinking, "35 years!"
Everything seems satisfactory, but I don't want to sit around, waiting to adopt from Haiti until I 'm 35!
I'm sort of the "jump-right-in, let's-do-it" kind of girl. When it's something I'm inspired to do, I immensely dislike waiting.

I would gladly read fine print, or learn the order of adoption, but the cost of bringing an orphan into one's care always throws me off....$20,000-$40,000?! I would do good to start saving! :)
Not just the money, either! Adoption is more than having cash.

And then I think of the orphans with siblings. They want to stay together, and I love the idea...even though it would usually mean spending twice the amount of money to do so! The thought of only adopting one sibling and leaving the other behind is a thought I hope to never go through with.

I have a board on Pinterest titled "My Dream House." Currently, it has 30 pins on it, compiled of decorations, rooms, furniture. But the many other pins I feel I am missing on the board are children! A house is not complete without kids, with only a few exceptions.
My house will be absolutely filled with children: Biological, adopted, teenaged, babies, multiple different descents. But as long as I am unmarried (and will hopefully continue living with my family until I am), I will keep on praying, loving, searching...and saving.

~Adoption (Part I)~

It's something I've said so many times. I've already made plans for putting aside money for adopting a child.

No matter where I have to travel, or what age I need to be to meet the adoption requirements, I have insisted that I will adopt at least one boy or girl.
I have even designed my own house to fit my adoptive and biological family. I research countries and their adoption laws; I think about what I need to meet their requirements; and all the while I am putting aside money for it all! Either that is persistence or I'm a big dreamer.

I like basing my inspiration for adoption on James 1:27-"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To look after orphans and widows in their distress..." Not only do I feel the need to help the fatherless, I feel the inspiring call of eventually bringing home one of these orphans.

I believe the adoption of a parentless child is something beautiful. It is an act of love, of hope, of care.
*Love: You are bringing someone into your home to care for him or her, to love the child God has chosen for you.
*Hope: Imagine the joy of the orphan when he hears he has finally been received into a real home, and now has a loving family. He has hope for a wonderful new life in his forever family.
*Care: An adoptive parent has been so impacted to adopt. The parent cares to give time, money, love...almost anything to give an orphan a home.

I see photos of orphans and destitute children practically every day.  They are not always the sad, half-starved impoverished...the image most people imagine to be. These kids know how to smile and laugh and be glad. But most of the time, they lack one thing that is very important in their lives. And that one thing is love.
Love can be pictured in many different ways: Hugs, prayers, memories. I've read the phrase "in loving memory" dozens of times. In fact, our family watched WALL-E last night and watched the end credits. One sentence way down near the bottom read "In loving memory of....1981-2003." I had never noticed that until last night.

People care to love. It is a selfless act of kindness to love someone or something. And "love," I think, is one of the words that define the reason of the persistence to bring an orphan into one's family for life.

Hearing the story of love from the fatherless' perspective is special. In some instances, you can feel what they have felt...just be listening to their stories. The emotions are what bring people together.

*Note: since this post would have had over 750 words in it, I have decided to create another part to this post! Check later for more!

Share Some Love

Christmas is arriving. But families in poverty may not receive any gifts.
While we sit around the tree, opening up our packages or smiling for the camera, holding up our stockings in our Christmas pajamas, there will be children who will be sitting on dirt floors, never getting the chance to know what a gift is.

But you can help give a family in destitution two special gifts: love and safety.
This Christmas, why don't we give instead of receive? Compassion International aims to raise $20,000 through their Gift Catalog. Your donation will help these families not only thrive, but show them that someone in the world is caring. And showing that you care is a gift in itself. 

Jesus gave Himself to us, and He was (and is) the greatest, most precious gift we will ever receive. Why not give for Him?

By giving love, time, and sometimes money, you will abound in happiness. Give generously and without resent ...you are doing a good deed.

"But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you —see that you also excel in this grace of giving." (2 Corinthians 8:7 NIV)

"Freely you have received; freely give." (Matthew 10:8b NIV)

"Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you."(3 John 1:5 NIV)
THANK-YOU,
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!

Inspirational Blog Post!

The well-known blog run by Alex and Brett Harris, The Rebelution, came out with another blog post a little while back. It was amazing. Click here to read it!
It talks about how a judge publishes a letter in a newspaper and it sort of goes viral. It is a definite must-read post! It was so motivating, actually, that I found myself raking our front yard a few minutes later! Just telling you readers, I wouldn't have really done that if I hadn't read it! (;

My pile of leaves...It looks bigger in real life, trust me!

Judge Gilliam must have been one awesome person to write such an inspirational letter!

P.S. Keep praying for Asia Bibi! Tell anyone you know about her! Thank you,

U.S.A...The President's Re-election

On November 6th, millions of Americans voted for the Candidate whom they thought best. Many people voted Romney/Ryan or Obama/Biden. But whether or not Governor Mitt Romney was a good choice, President Barack Obama was re-elected into the White House for the next four years.

According to  Foxnews.com, President Barack Obama's Approval Rating is like this: Approve 51% Disapprove 46% Undecided 3% (click here to see the details.)

As our family watched the elections, I was writing in my journal, trying to get in all the details. Here are some little excerpts from my writings:"(Romney) is in a tight race with (the president)...I'm nervous/waiting...I'd rather have someone else in charge of our nation! In fact, I'd rather have (God)!...Romney "missed the boat"...But God has a plan...I don't like how He's going about it. But it's not about me, or anyone else, not liking it....(The re-elected president says) "We've got work to do""

When President Obama was making his election speech, he left out something very important...and he also said some things that he should have left out. When he said what makes America strong, he did not mention "godliness" or anything of the sort.
What do you think these next four years will be like?
And, by the way, I'll be posting a surprise on Saturday! Hope you all will like it!

Compassion Blog Month!

Dear Readers,
September is Blog Month over at Compassion International! Please click the link here to sponsor a child or to pray for the children and their spiritual lives with God.

This is changing the lives of thousands of children around the world, turning their eyes to Christ and getting to know Him personally. Help spread Compassion to the far corners of the earth!

"She loves me and I love her. What more can I ask for?"
Compassion's goal is to get 3,108 children sponsored between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30. Help to end poverty right from where you live. Let God use you to give even more love to these children. Give them the care they need: schooling, food, medicine, and more.

Girls and boys all over the world need sponsoring. Give them that love and sponsor them. I sponsor a girl from Peru and in every letter she sends me, she says she loves me. What a great feeling I get from reading those letters! She loves me and I love her. What more can I ask for?

Sponsor a child today and help spread the Word.

Prayer Request!

 

via

Please pray for Asia Bibi, a Pakistani woman who shared her Christian Faith and has been imprisoned and received a death sentence.

Sign the petition for her release! The signatures will be passed to the Pakistani Officials this Fall. Please add your name to the many others on the list!

Thank-you,