A funny thing happened on the way . . .

I don't know why, but I still get surprised when God uses my selfish motivations and changes my heart.

It started over the weekend when I was writing about perspective and was looking for links to add to the post.  While I was on Compassion's website I read about the Compassion bloggers trip to Nicaragua.  A few days later I got an e-mail from Compassion (several months ago I signed up to be a Compassion blogger, but sadly have never written anything using the prompts they send out each month) saying they were having a contest related to the trip and that there were ways to get up to 22 entries a day.

The prize pack includes 9 books including some that have been sitting un-purchased on my Amazon wish list:  One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond and Plan B by Pete Wilson.

Confession: Compassion Week on Heidi's @ Home has been motivated by the fact that I would get 10 entries for each blog post about the trip to Nicaragua where I linked the Compassion bloggers.  (I could only enter this portion of the contest once a day)

I figured it was a win/win because I got to write about child sponsorship, which is near and dear to my heart, while also doing everything possible to win books.  I love to write and I love to read.  Doing a writing assignment so I'd have more books to read? Yes, please!

The contest ended Thursday afternoon.

By the time I wrote the final post in my "Compassion Week" series on Thursday morning I had spent hours on the Compassion website, on the Compassion bloggers website, on twitter following the bloggers, reading their posts on Facebook, going to their individual sites, etc.  My blog wasn't the only thing that was consumed by Compassion International this week--it felt like my entire life was.

On the way to getting the maximum 88 entries (max of 22 entries over 4 days) a funny thing happened . . . I started caring less about winning the contest and more about finding a sponsor for as many children as possible.  9.5 years after my own sponsorship journey began (when my husband and I got married and I "inherited" his Compassion children) I thought my heart had already been changed by sponsorship.  I mean, we made our Compassion children a priority in our budget, ahead of things like eating out, going on "date nights" or getting a babysitter to preserve my sanity while I got out of the house for a few hours during the day. I take my kids to doctor's appointments rather than pay a baby-sitter so we can sponsor our kids.  I was wrong.  There's still plenty of room for God to work.  As I've been reading the stories coming out of Nicaragua this week my heart started changing even more.

For the first time I was in the home of a child being sponsored.  For the first time I caught a glimpse into the life of a mom who had been forced to choose between her child receiving an education or feeding her family  and I met a dad who has defied the cultural norm and is sticking around to raise his children.

There's already more month than food in our grocery budget and yet I'm left wondering today . . . where  can I find another $38/mo to bring hope to another child?

As I've read these stories and seen these pictures this week I've been changed and I never left suburbia.   I've served on foreign mission trips and seen those who don't have much materially, but this virtual trip has changed me more than those ones I've been to in the barrios of Chile (twice) and having built houses for people whose homes had been made up only of pallets.

The contest is over, and for the first time this week I'm not submitting my blog link to Compassion to be eligible for to win 9 books, but I'm ok with that because I know God has started a movement in my heart that (I believe) will continue to go forward.

Concluding "Compassion Week"

This week I've been sharing stories from the Compassion bloggers in Nicaragua as they've been traveling to different centers and visiting the homes of their sponsored children. As someone living in my suburban home with the comforts of food in my fridge, a roof over my head, a comfortable mattress and cool air provided by my air conditioning it's hard for me to imagine what "extreme poverty" looks like. ("Extreme poverty" as defined by the UN is living on less than $1 USD a day) Last night Kelly at Faithful Provisions  wrote a beautiful story from the perspective of Daisy, the mom of a sponsored child.

 In recent months I've been struggling with fitting in with my culture and truly living like Jesus. While I know (in my head) it's not about my home being "updated" (which it's not), having new furniture (we're 37 & nearly 47 and most of our furniture is still second and third hand from our parents and friends) I'd be dishonest if I were saying I didn't want those things. Then I read stories like Bending For Treasure In The Trash by Shaun Groves and I'm reminded what's truly important in this world. I love how Traci describes the role of a Compassion sponsor in the Body of Christ.

By going on this virtual trip to Nicaragua and immersing myself in the work of Compassion for the past few days I have been changed. Being fully honest, there have been times I've looked at our monthly charitable giving and thought "If we didn't give to (fill in the organization) each month we'd have room in our budget for (my want)."  God has been shifting my heart and aligning it more with His. Instead of looking at my "wants" right now I'm finding myself looking at our budget and finding where else we can cut/"find" money to sponsor another child.

The Compassion bloggers are going to be in Nicaragua for a few more days and are going to continue to post so please continue to follow their stories and be introduced to the amazing lives being changed by sponsorship.

Up until recently our Compassion children have been chosen for us. As I've mentioned before, my husband started sponsoring children through Compassion before we met and his first 2 children were chosen for him.  Over the years we've had 3 girls from the Dominican Republic and one boy from Peru who wasn't even in (our equivalent) of Kindergarten when my husband started sponsoring him, and is now 17 and getting ready to graduate!  Though we've sponsored 4 children over the years, we've never sponsored more than 2 at a time.  Recently I was thinking of friends (who have 5 kids) and who have a Compassion child for each of the children living in their own home so their kids each have a friend they get to write to.  Compressing the story, a few months I went to Compassion's website and searched for a 4 child between 4-5 with no other search parameters set.  After seeing all the children in that age range I entered our daughter's birthdate in the search box and there was an adorable little boy in Peru staring at me.  I told my husband what I'd done and asked, "Do you think we can make this work?".  He agreed with me and we added Alexis to our family.  A few weeks later I did the same thing, this time looking up a child with the same birthdate as our 6 year old and we were introduced to Sharon in Kenya.  We have friends who live overseas (in a country where Compassion works) and they've told us that if we end up sponsoring a child near them (there are several centers in their area) that they would go visit the child on our behalf, which would be wonderful so we've considered that as well.  Who knows  . . . maybe we'll add a 5th child in their region before much longer :)

If your heart has been stirred by my posts, and the stories of the Compassion bloggers, please consider the $38/mo it would take to provide food, education and medical care for a child living in poverty.  You can start your journey to sponsorship by clicking the banner to the left or the widget below.

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Compassion Week Continued . . . . Meeting A Sponsored Child

   

Yesterday was the first full day for the Compassion Bloggers and I was anxiously awaiting their first posts last night.  During the day Kelly from Faithful Provisions tweeted a picture of her with Marcos.  I rejoiced with her as she got to meet him and not-so-patiently waited for her to have a few moments to write about her day.

I was rewarded last evening when Kelly shared Marcos' story and beautiful pictures.

As I read through the description of Marcos' house I couldn't help but think of our own Marco, Alexis who live in Peru.  I know they live in solid construction homes, but I was wondering what their sleeping conditions are like.   We're just getting to know Naidelin in the Domincan Republic so I don't know what her living conditions are like.   I know that Sharon must fetch water and most likely lives in a hut.  All are a far (and humbling) cry from my own living situation as I sit here in my suburban Arizona home listening to the sound of the air conditioner that is keeping me cool in the midst of a hot Phoenix summer.

This morning, the first moment I could, I went to my computer and read through the other posts from the Compassion Bloggers.

My heart was caught in my throat this morning as I saw Christy's first day in Nicaragua detailed in words and pictures that rattled my world.  I can see why she felt like she lived an entire year of her life in one year.   After seeing the images Christy and Bri shared from the garbage dump they visited to the joy of meeting Wilbert and his family I felt like I was on the roller coaster of emotions, too.

Following the Compassion Bloggers for the past few days has reinforced my passion for sponsorship as well as given birth to my desire to go visit one of our kids.

If you're reading my blog I challenge you to follow these stories and others as they unfold this week and see what God does in your heart through these stories and the others that are going to be unfolding over the next few days.

Compassion Week at Heidi's @ Home

Even if you just started reading my blog this week you know my family and I are huge supporters of Compassion International since I have written several posts about our experience, the way my life is being changed and how I'm going on a going on a (virtual) trip this week with the Compassion bloggers.

Because of this week's trip to Nicaragua I'm considering this "Compassion Week" here at Heidi's @ Home :)  I'll resume my "regular" posts next week, but figure this is a good time to bring attention to one of my favorite groups.

I'm anxiously awaiting updates from the team and am extremely jealous of Kelly from Faithful Provisions who gets to meet her sponsored child, Marcos today!  Kelly tweeted a picture this morning as she was getting ready to meet him and all I could think of is how I'd love to visit Marcos (our oldest Compassion child, who is getting ready to graduate) in Peru, Naidelin  in the Dominican Republic, Sharon in Kenya or Alexis in Peru.   Alexis and Marco only live about 100 miles away from each other.

While I can't visit our kids this week I'm excited to follow the activities of the Compassion bloggers on Twitter.

Until the team starts posting their updates I'm enjoying getting to know the team by reading their blogs, including Giving the internet malaria by Shaun Groves who is helping to lead this trip.

Will you join me in following this team as they get to love on some beautiful children and witness first hand the amazing work Compassion is doing in Nicaragua?

Going on a (virtual) trip!

All weekend I have been thinking about the lesson in perspective and the object lesson we tried to teach our kids Saturday.  My husband and I had an interesting talk Saturday night about the struggle of wanting to live the life God wants while also being heavily influenced by our American culture of "stuff".

We currently have 4 Compassion children, including one who is getting to graduate his program.  This young man is someone that has been part of my husband's life since before we met and started dating over 10 years ago so he's seen our family change from my husband as a single man to where we are today: a family with 2 kids who will be 7 and 5 this summer.  Until recently we'd never had more than 2 Compassion children at a time, but had had 4 total over the years.   In recent months we added a little boy born the same day as our daughter and a little girl born the same day as our son so we can watch these children grow up along with ours, which brought our total to 4 that we currently sponsor.  We've had two we sponsor leave the program: one due to graduation and one due to other circumstances.

Though we've sponsored Compassion children the entire time we've been married (as I mentioned, my husband started before we were married, so I "inherited" these kids on our wedding day) it's been in recent months that my heart has seriously been changed by the sponsorship experience.  We pray for our Compassion children regularly as they each have their own "sticks" and have their pictures hanging in the hallway where we get to see their faces often.  Our kids know their names and they are part of normal conversation in our home.  Our kids love that they each have a friend in a different country who was born the same day as them (though my 4 year old was confused for awhile as to why she and her friend in Peru weren't twins even though they were born the same day).

This week, Edie at life{in}grace has the amazing experience of travelling to Nicaragua with Compassion International and she, along with her fellow travelers, are blogging about their experiences.

I'm not going to lie---I'm extremely jealous of these bloggers this week who get to meet and love on children that Compassion is helping to release from poverty in the name of Jesus Christ!  In my dreams we get to travel to Peru (Our oldest and youngest Compassion children live approximately 100mi from each other) or the Dominican Republic or Kenya to visit one of these members or our extended family.   Since I can't visit our own Compassion kids this week I'm going to live vicariously through those who can!

Will you join me in following Edie, Shaun, Traci, Kelly, and Christy this week as they get to be Jesus' hands and feet in Nicaragua and love on some amazing kids?

Perspective and an Impromptu Object Lesson

This week we received our first letter from our newest Compassion Child, a little girl from Kenya who was born the same day as our son.   This morning my husband was reading the newest Compassion Magazine, which we received yesterday and I asked him, "Did you read Sharon's letter? Did you see one of her chores is fetching water?"  Both of our kids were playing in the kitchen while we talked so when my 6 year old heard us he asked what "fetching water" meant. 

Since we were standing in the kitchen I turned on our faucet and told the kids how lucky we are to have running water.   I explained about how many people around the world aren't lucky enough to have water in their house and they have to go get it.  I explained that some people get their water from a well and others have to go get theirs from a body of water that they share with animals who drink and go to the bathroom there.  I asked the kids how they'd like to drink water that came from where animals pooped.   Needless to say there was a chorus of "EEEWWWWW".

I asked my son, "Sharon is your age.  Do you think you could carry water back to our house without spilling it?"  In typical 6 year old bravado he said, "Of course! That's easy!".   Immediately an idea started forming in my head and within minutes we had an impromptu object lesson this morning.

I filled 3 buckets with water: a small one they received as a gift, a 2.5 gallon bucket and a 5 gallon bucket. Our side of the street doesn't have a sidewalk, so I carried the buckets across the street and instructed them to carry the buckets down a few houses to a neighbor's house.

My 4 year old went first with the small bucket:

Next up was my 6 year old:

After both kids successfully carried the small bucket past 4 houses in our suburban neighborhood I had them attempt the 2.5 gallon bucket:

As you can see, my daughter couldn't even lift the 2.5 gallon bucket and by the time my son walked to our neighbor's house that we'd designated as our end point his bucket was basically empty.

The water ended up primarily on him, which he didn't mind since we're in the midst of a Phoenix summer and it was already about 95 when we were doing this at 11am.

After watching what happened when my son picked up the 2.5 gallon bucket I was quite interested to see what would happen once the kids attempted the next challenge:

I don't know if the kids fully got the object lesson I was trying to teach because they were more into how fun it was to get wet on this hot morning, but hopefully it'll stick.

Once we got in the house I was getting a little pushback when I asked them to mop the floor and unload the dishwasher.  We talked about how Sharon would probably LOVE a machine that did the dishes for her and I told them that where she lives they have dirt floors so she would think our tile floors were extremely fancy.

Our activities this morning were also a good dose of perspective for this mom.  For the past few weeks I've been seeing pictures on Facebook of vacations my friends are taking and I've been getting discouraged that we haven't been able to fit anything like that into our budget.  (Ironically when my kids dressed themselves this morning they both put on shirts given to them by a family member who went to Disney World last year and one of the things I've been really struggling with is not being able to afford to take our kids to Disneyland, despite it only being 6 hours away so I had that "god" in my face the whole time the kids were doing this).

Mom needed this dose of perspective at least as much as the kids.

Compassion

My husband and I are huge fans of Compassion International.  When I met my husband I was broke.  I was working a full-time job and a part time job.   I didn't have a spare penny so I couldn't afford to sponsor my own child, though I'd long wanted to. 

At the time I met my husband he was sponsoring two kids through Compassion.   One was in her teens and one was about 7.  The teenager graduated after we got married and when she did we decided to sponsor another child in her same country and were assigned a young girl.  10 years later we still sponsor the same boy who was once 7 and who is now getting ready to graduate from the program himself!  The young girl we sponsored after my husband's first Compassion child graduated has since left the program.  Last weekend we got a letter from Compassion asking if we'd consider another girl from that country and we immediately said, "Yes!"  Our newest Compassion child is only about 2.5mo younger than our firstborn (son).

We have friends who have 5 children living in their home and have a Compassion child the same age as each of their kids.  Their kids are pen pals with the Compassion child their same age and all the kids get to "grow up" together.  My husband and I have always loved that idea so we were thrilled at God's handiwork in giving us a new child who is roughly the same age as our son.

The same night we received the information packet in the mail I started thinking, "Well . . . now we have a 6 year old like our son.  I wonder if there's anybody who needs a sponsor with the same birth date as our youngest (our daughter is 4)."  Sure enough, there was a little boy in Peru whose mom gave birth the same day I gave birth to my daughter.  My husband and I had a very brief conversation that night and decided it was worth it to us to add another family member :)

Every time I go on Compassion.com my heart breaks for the kids who still need sponsors.  Tonight I looked up the birth date of our oldest and "met" a little boy born the same day as him.  Oh, how I wish we could add him to our circle, too.  I also "met" Vishnu who is physically disabled and who, according to Compassion's website is in an area with a higher risk of exploitation or abuse.  Oh, how my heart breaks as I want to help Vishnu.   I want Vishnu, the boy who was born the same date as my son, and countless others to know Jesus.  I want them to grow up being well fed and knowing how much they are loved.  I want their physical and spiritual needs taken care of.  I want them to grow up and be healthy and be able to rise up and be who God created them to be.  I pray our Compassion kids will be God's messengers in their own countries and around the world.

Our Compassion kids are on our "sticks" we pray for each night and their pictures are on our "global wall" so that we see their faces, and remember to pray for them several times a day.