37 Birthday Wishes

One month from yesterday is my 37th birthday. Birthday's aren't a big deal to me, most of the time, but this morning I had an idea. Thanks to an email from Crowdrise, one of the best social media crowd-sourcing fundraising sites around, I was reminded about my upcoming birthday. The email suggested I do something different, something not for me, but for someone else. Raise funds for an organization that I'm passionate about or, in my case, people. Little people to be exact. Children. Children who are being raised in poverty all around the world. Children, who with just a little bit of financial help, can rise above the poverty they're being raised in and find hope. Hope through feeding programs. Education. Medical attention. Most importantly, hope in Jesus.

So for my 37th birthday, my wish is to see 37 children sponsored through Compassion International! Sponsoring a child through Compassion is simple and costs only $38 a month. That $38 helps feed and educate a child living in poverty. It helps bring medical services to them as well. Best of all, it brings the hope of Jesus to a child who otherwise might never hear the gospel.

A couple of years ago I began sponsoring a little girl from India named Mounika. She is super-sweet and smart. It's such a joy to write her letters each month and to receive letters back from her. Though we're thousands of miles a part, I know that she (along with her family) are being taken care of by the staff of Compassion. They're being prayed for, encouraged, and supported in their journey through life. 

You, too, can sponsor a child through Compassion. All you have to do is CLICK HERE to visit my Compassion website and click on the "sponsor me" button. Or, you can go to Compassion's website and view children that are waiting to be sponsored there.

Some of you may already sponsor a child through Compassion or another child-sponsor program. That's OK. If you want, maybe you can consider sponsoring another child. Or help spread the word about my 37 birthday wishes and invite your friends to sponsor a child!

Whatever you do, don't do nothing. Help make my wishes come true!!! Because, really, it's not about me... it's about 37 kids out there that need hope!!!

If you plan on helping make my wishes come true, leave a comment. Thanks!! :)

Blood Sucker

Hi. My name is Buzz and I'm a blood sucker.

Every single day I wake up thirsty. Thirsty for the warm, sticky taste of blood. My body craves it; I need it to survive. The very thought of blood consumes me.

People all over the world think I'm annoying. Heck, I don't blame them. I swarm around their head, the quick beat of my wings ringing in their ears, as I contemplate where to land. Oh, they swat at me, hoping to deter me from my mission. But my goal is clear - I must suck to survive.

Can I tell you something? I'm a carrier. I don't know how or where, but I'm infected with malaria. I'm an agent of sickness and sometimes death. I don't want to be. But I don't know how to stop. I'm a blood sucker. Sucking blood is my life.

I've heard rumors. People say there's a way to prevent people from getting sick from malaria. I hope it's true. I don't want to kill people. I just want to suck their blood.

*****

Today is World Malaria Day, a day to raise awareness about a deadly disease that is both preventable and treatable.

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted via mosquitoes. According to the World Heath Organization, there are 3.3 billion people at risk of malaria. Most susceptible to malaria is the world's poorest and youngest. In 2010, 90% of all malaria deaths were in Sub-Sahara Africa, and most were under the age of 5.

5 year old boys and girls are dying every 30 seconds from a disease that is both preventable and treatable.

My heart breaks when I read this statistic. Because it's not just a statistic. There are faces behind each number. A child, mother, and father. Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles. Cousins.

No one should die from a preventable and treatable disease simply because they are poor.

Thankfully, there are so many amazing organizations that are doing something to help in the fight against malaria. Compassion International is one of those organizations! As part of their health & medical needs program, Compassion helps aid poverty-stricken families with a way to prevent and treat malaria. Insecticide treated mosquito nets are key in preventing malaria, and for most Americans, they are inexpensive. 2 mosquito nets cost just $20 - that's less than a date night at the movie theater!

Would you consider purchasing 2 insecticide-treated mosquito nets today? Click here to bite back and help prevent someone from getting malaria today!

Compassion at Christmas

Christmas is in four days. By now the tree is trimmed, the stockings are hung on the mantle, and the gifts are nearly wrapped under the tree.

No?

Not at my house either. The tree is up, but the gifts haven't been wrapped just yet. Heck, who am I kidding? There's still more gifts to buy.

And I'm ok with that.

Christmas is more than a tree. It's more than stockings filled with candy, cheap perfume, and gift cards. The reason we celebrate Christmas is beyond the gifts we exchange with family and friends.

Christmas is and always will be about Jesus. Immanuel, God with us. He dwelled among us, walked and talked with us, helped and healed us, loved us.

He fed us.

Clothed us.

Freed us.

He had compassion on us, extending grace and mercy.

And, in turn, He asks us to do the same.

Christmas is the perfect time to give gifts. Not just to family and friends, but to folks around the world who need a helping hand. Folks who need to see Immanuel, God with us. Folks who need fed, clothed, set free.

You can give a gift this Christmas that will have a far greater impact than you can imagine.

Will you consider purchasing a gift that will change lives? Compassion International makes it easy. All you have to do is look through their gift catalog and pick a gift of your choosing. You can buy seeds that enable families in Africa to grow their own food to eat as well as sell for income. You can buy medical services for families who would otherwise go without. You can buy goats and chickens. Education and career opportunities, HIV testing, and parasite treatment.

Click here to browse the Compassion gift catalog------> http://www.compassion.com/catalog.htm?referer=128060

Compassion has asked me to raise $100 to help them reach their goal of $20,000. If just 10 of my friends would give just $10, I would reach my goal.

Will you be the one to give?

If you give, please leave a comment below. Thank you!

Giving Used to Be Simple

This is Monday, but in place of my normal "Manic Monday" posts I am partnering with Compassion International's #ItsAboutGiving blog campaign. Hope you enjoy!

 

Glue sticks. Construction paper. Glitter. Cotton balls. Pine cones. Magic markers. Pipe cleaners.

These were the tools of making the best gifts as a child. Simple. Cheap. Made with love.

I vividly remember creating Santa's beard out of cotton balls by gluing them onto a paper plate. His eyes, nose, and mouth I carefully drew on the plate with magic markers. Then I painstakingly cut his hat out of red construction paper, using caution to make it just so. To finish, more cotton balls were glued to his hat to make Santa more festive.

Giving as a child was simple and sweet. The gifts were made with care out of ordinary, every day items. There was no stressing out or worrying whether mom or dad would like the gift. Gift giving was easy because each gift was made with love and given joyfully. Mom and dad would accept the gift with tears and treasure it forever, saving it long after the cotton balls had yellowed and the glue stopped sticking.

Gift giving today has become much more difficult. There's the constant stress over who to buy for, what to buy or make, how much to spend. The list of who to buy for seems to get longer each year as families grow and we make new friends. The items to buy changes from toys to games to clothes to electronics. To make things easier, the thought of buying gift cards crosses the mind, but quickly disappears as Christmas is supposed to be personal not impersonal.

What happened to the simplicity of gift giving? What happened to giving a gift that will be treasured long after it's been given?

The greatest gift of all came in the form of a baby. Born in a barn, surrounded by dirt and filth, God gave us His son - Jesus. In turn, Jesus gives each of us the gift of life, of grace and mercy, of love. Simple yet profound. Incredingly meaningful. Gifts that last all of eternity.

This Christmas, let's bring back the simplicity of giving gifts.

Will you consider giving a gift that is simple yet meaningful, one that will be treasured for a lifetime? Check out the Compassion gift catalog and consider giving the gift of food, water, or medical care.

What will you do this year to make gift giving simple yet meaningful?

Giving Means Everything

Today is most definitely Monday. But I'm foregoing my typical Manic Monday post for something different. Today I'm partnering with Compassion International and their #itsaboutgiving campaign. 

Compassion's Christmas Gift Catalog

'Tis the season for twinkling lights. Strands of garland. Shiny glass balls, paper snowflakes, snowmen made from cotton balls.

'Tis the season for fresh baked sugar cookies. Peppermint bark. Hard tack candy. Hot chocolate.

'Tis the season for slow dancing in the living room lit only by the tree and stealing kisses beneath the mistletoe.

'Tis the season for remembering. For celebrating. For giving.

We remember the angels telling Mary how she would soon give birth to the Savior. We remember Mary and Joseph leaving home for a safer place to live. We remember the innkeeper saying their was no room for them. We remember the smelly, animal-filled barn where Jesus was born.

We celebrate the gift of life, of hope, of grace, of love.

We join with the Magi who gave. We join them in giving to family, to friends. We join them in giving to the poor, the needy, the lonely, and the forgotten.

Giving means everything.

John 3:16, the most quoted Scripture of all time, reminds us of why we give - because God gave. God gave His one and only Son, the best gift anyone could receive. He gave all of us the gift of life, of hope, of grace, of love.

Christmas comes around once a year, and it is good and right that we should remember and celebrate.

But giving? Giving is a lifestyle.

Giving means collecting food, clothing, school supplies, etc. throughout the year for those who are in need.

Giving means cooking a meal for a neighbor, leaving a generous tip for the waitress, or volunteering at the local crisis pregnancy center.

For me, giving means serving at a local soup kitchen on a regular basis. But it doesn't stop there. It means getting to know the folks I'm serving. It means sharing a meal with them, listening to their stories, praying with them.

For me, giving means sponsoring a little girl in India through Compassion International. It means so much more than supporting her financially. It means encouraging her to learn and grow. It means being able to share Jesus with her and her family.

This Christmas will you join me in making giving a lifestyle? 

Changing the World, One Child at a Time

Growing up, I was much like any other girl. I dreamed of one day finding the man of my dreams, getting married, and having children. I doodled hearts and flowers on the sides of my spiral notebooks with the name of my latest crush, circling our names together with hearts, declaring we would be together "4-ever."  My close friends and I would daydream about our perfect lives, including our perfect children. We imagined how many children we would have, even going so far as naming them. (I was to have 4 children - a set of twins, Tyler Ray & Taylor Renee, a boy, James, and a girl, Mercedes.)

In my early twenties, I gave up the notion of "finding" the man of my dreams and vowed to wait for God to bring him to me. I prayed for my future husband, and continued to dream of one day having children. In those days, my life revolved around serving God on the mission field, and my heart became open to the idea of adoption. Many of my missionary friends had either been adopted into their family or were adopting children from all over the world. At some point, I committed my heart to adopting, if God ever opened a door to do so.

At thirty, my husband and I were married. We have been married for just a little longer than 5 years, and we have no children of our own. Instead of dreaming to have four children, my heart says one would be more than enough to love and cherish all the rest of my days. Perhaps a little girl to dress in pink frilly clothes and matching bows in her hair. 

This year, my heart opened to another idea of "having" children. There are thousands of children across the globe who have families, moms and dads who love them, but cannot meet their daily needs of food, water, and education. Children whose families live on less than $2 a day. Children whose needs can be met through a simple gift of $38 a month. Children whose lives will forever be impacted by that gift, and the encouragement that can be sent through letters and pictures, prayer, and maybe - some day - through finally meeting face-to-face.

In September, I began sponsoring an eight year old little girl named Mounika from India. She is absolutely beautiful, and I'm honored to be a part of her life in some small way. My dream for this little girl is to grow up and fulfill her dreams, whatever they may be. My hope is that her life will be so impacted by the love of Jesus that she will forever be changed, and she will be a beacon of hope to those around her. 

This past week, a group of bloggers traveled to Peru to witness firsthand the Compassion International ministry near Lima. One particular post from Shaun Groves caught my eye, and I want to share it with you in hopes that you will be inspired. Sometimes we think in order to change the world we have to do something huge. But, Mother Teresa says that "small things done with great love will change the world." Read Shaun's post and know that sometimes changing the world comes by doing something small, like sponsoring a Compassion child.

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