Joy...Unspeakable Joy

Joy can come in many different forms...sometimes it's obvious sometimes very subtle.  On my recent trip to Honduras, I saw joy on the faces of children.  The joy my girls and the other children had when meeting their sponsors.  Sponsors who have made a difference in their lives, showed them love, and gave them hope.  Hope for the future and joy in the present.  Joy of a special friend who came along side them in a world that tells them they don't matter. You, too can give this joy by sponsoring a child. 

Meeting my 3 girls: Heidy, Laura, & Dayana

 Dayana

Heidy                                      Laura

There was the Joy of the Lord in the hearts of the people.  Even in desperate situations, in the middle of a world of poverty they had hope and joy in the Lord. The depth of their praise was humbling.  It was simply amazing to be a part of their worship and see the true joy they had in our Lord Jesus Christ. Joy...Unspeakable Joy.

 Children Dancing to the worship-they never seemed to tire.

Preparing for Communion 

Heart of worship of a young child

There was joy in a mother's hug.  The joy and gratefulness of the mothers whose children got to meet their sponsors for the first time touched my heart. The joy of these mothers and their daughters gave me a joy like I have never felt before.

Please consider contributing to the joy of children, families, and communities in poverty. Sponsor a child today and experience joy...unspeakable joy.

¡Mi Patitos, Mi Patitos!

It's late, I'm sitting here looking at the prompt for the first assignment for Compassion's blog month-a note to your childhood self-and all I can think of is ducks...little yellow ducks...and a mommy duck...squirting water all over me...

Ok, ok, I know that sounds strange, but if you were me, you'd be laughing and probably crying at this thought.  Just a few weeks ago, I spent a day with 3 charming little girls.  One of them, sweet, mischievous, little Dayana, brought along her little rubber duckies.  The little ones fit on top of the mommy-you know the type.  

They would flip over and the babies would fall in the pool, "mi patitos, mi patitos," she would squeal, giggling all the while. She would catch them and put them back where they were safe on their mother's back. As her shyness wore off she began using the ducks to squirt me with water, eventually even in the face (thankfully it was in the pool rather than the ocean).  The squirting instigated tickling (how could I resist?), to which she responded with tickling of her own.  

All barriers broken, she stole my heart with that giggle, that tickle, those little patitos...

So, my first Blog Month post isn't exactly following the prompt on talking to my childhood self...rather just addressing childhood in general.  Dayana touched my heart with her childhood antics.  Showing me her family photos, the photos I had sent her, the letters I wrote her, and the gifts I had sent were some moments I cherished from our visit together. Our little games and most of all, our hugs and snuggles will forever be etched in my heart. 

Many children in poverty don't have the chance to truly be a child, but for Dayana, at least for one day, she didn't have a care in the world, except for those patitos. 

There are hundreds of children just like Dayana waiting for a sponsor to give them hope and most of all love.  I promise you it's not hard to love these precious little ones.  My heart is breaking looking at these photos and my arms are aching to hold my "little patito" once again.

Please consider sponsoring a child today!

One Year Ago...

One year ago...

I felt this hug

One year ago...

I saw this smile

One year ago...

I had my face painted

One year ago...

I danced on stage

One year ago...

I experienced this snuggle

One year ago...

I fell in love with this beautiful smile

One year ago...

I lost my heart in Ecuador

I can't believe it has already been a year since I visited Ecuador on my first Compassion trip.  I still remember so vividly the time I got to spend with Dayana and Aida.  God has blessed me so much with these beautiful girls.  I hope I will be able to return to visit them some day soon! 

She Had Me at 'Hola'

The anticipation of meeting your sponsored child or children is often enough to drive you nearly crazy.  I should know, I've been through it three times now.  Will I recognize them?  Will they recognize me?  Will they like me? Will we have fun? Will they be shy or out-going?  Will they be cuddly or stand-off-ish?  And the questions go on and on until you have exhausted all possible circumstances.

Last Monday our bus pulled up to the chosen location in Honduras for our "Child-Sponsor Fun Day." We arrived before the children and waited for their buses to pull in.  When the first one pulled up next to ours, we searched frantically for a glimpse of our children-the children were doing the same in search of their sponsors.  Then I saw her.  This ADORABLE dark haired beauty.  I made eye contact and began to wonder if that was my little Laura.  I only had 1 photograph of her with her hair pulled up.  This darling little girl had long curly hair and the smile of an angel.  Just as I was questioning her identity, she held up a sign.  A sign with my name on it.  This certainly was my Laura. I waved and her smile brightened as she waved back.  I blew her a kiss and she returned one of her own. My heart melted.

 From the moment I stepped off the bus, Laura was there. She was the most affectionate little girl.  She loved to hold my hand, walk with me, give me hugs, and cuddle. 

 

We spent the day on the beach building sand castles and swimming in the ocean.  We played in the pool and the girls slid down the slides with great joy.  Her beautiful smile just captured my heart.

 

At the end of the day, when we were walking to the buses, she tugged on our translator's shirt, "Tell her that I love her." Again she tugged on her shirt, "Tell her that I love her very much."  Her insistence that the translator tell me over and over again was one of the most precious gifts a child could give. I simply wished I would never have to let go of this little angel God has brought into my life.

God Will Make a Way When There Seems to be No Way

I am just under 3 weeks away from my trip to Honduras with Compassion International.  Emotions have been up and down as I prepared to visit 3 little girls: Dayana, my youngest sponsored child; Laura, my youngest correspondent child; and Mily, a young correspondent I had yet to hear from.

Dayana                                      Laura

Mily

I gradually collected gifts for each little girl and anxiously awaited information for our trip.  Then I got a "dreaded" phone call...instead of hearing that Mily's first letter was on it's way, I learned that she and her family had moved away from the Compassion center HO350 and to a new neighborhood that does not have a Compassion center.  I would no longer be able to have contact with Mily.  I certainly was sad, I was very drawn this darling girl even though we had had no correspondence yet.  I am thankful she and her family have moved away from the issues that they were dealing with but there is still a hole, and box full of gifts for a 7 year old little girl that I never got to know and never will.

So I turned my mental focus to the 2 little girls I have had wonderful communication with and cannot wait to hug.  Sweet Dayana and precious Laura.  Their letter have been great treasures to me.  While I will miss Mily, at least I had not formed an attachment to her like I have the other girls, and now I have a hand for each child. Something I have told myself over and over lately.  I tried not to focus on the box of gifts sitting with no purpose-I began to pack the gifts for Dayana and Laura and couldn't bring myself to even touch the third box.  Maybe I can use it on a future trip, or at least some of the gifts...maybe there are children here that I know that would make use of the gifts...

Then something happened.  I saw a sweet little face on the Facebook wall of a fellow Compassion advocate.  "Don't let sponsoritis or the loss of Mily influence you," I told myself.  Still , 7 year old Heidy from Honduras kept staring at me, and I at her.  She was from center HO372, a center I had heard great things about. "Stop looking, you already have 5 sponsored children, that is enough."  I began to pray that God would show me if it was His will for me to add Heidy to my "family" or to take away the desire to sponsor her.  With most of my sponsored children, I have asked God for a sign: sometimes it was time, sometimes it was certain circumstances in the child's life, or even the decisions of another sponsor. Well, with Heidy, I asked God to show me through the details of our upcoming Honduras trip.  "God, if you want me to sponsor Heidy, our tour group will have to visit her project HO372.  That's how I will know it's meant to be." Even as I threw out this "fleece," I felt it was impossible.  HO372 had been visited twice last year alone, there was no way we were going to visit this project when there are so many others out there. Beginning to process the separation with the idea of being Heidy's sponsor, I told myself, "This is not going to happen. There is basically a 0% chance we will go there."

Thursday, we got our trip itineraries from Compassion.  I just about had a heart attack when I found out that we ARE visiting HO372.  I was in utter shock-this shouldn't be happening.  And yet it is.   I kept staring at Heidy's photo.  "God, is this for real?"  After a few hours of mentally processing and praying, I filled out the online form to become Heidy's sponsor.  

Heidy

Not only is it exciting to be able to spend a day with Heidy at her project, but my box of gifts for a 7 year old little girl can be put to VERY good use.  The doll I have even reminds me of Heidy.  So, pending paperwork and notifications, Heidy is part of my Compassion family and I will be able to hold her in just 3 short weeks. :)  Our trip is also visiting HO350, Mily's project. This visit will be bitter-sweet as I will certainly miss Mily, yet to know where she had been and meet her pastors will be special.  God does things in His way and His time.  We may not understand them all, but He gives us direction.  He may not always make His plans as obvious as He made them for me this week, but He shows us all the time that He is here and He is listening. God cares about even the smallest details of our lives.  What an Amazing God we serve!

Mai Oh Mai Oh Mai!

One of my most memorable moments from my trip to Colombia happened at the project CO341-CDI Sonrisa.  We were divided into 3 groups to visit 3 classrooms in the center to spend time with the children in smaller groups.  I had been "elected" to choose items to take to our room to do activities with the kids.  I has NO idea what to choose, but I am thankful God helped me choose the materials I did.  After sing some songs with our group of children (ages 9-14) we settled in for a time of drawing, chatting, and bonding together.

John and the tutor teaching song to the children and to us.

Kathy surrounded by curious children trying to decide what to draw.

My table of kids and the drawings they gave me :)

One of the sponsors suggested that the children draw picture of their families.  Some children took to that idea, while others chose to draw other things.  This is where Mai comes in (pronounced "My"-now the title clicks, right?).  

Me and Mai

Mai drew a lovely picture of his family.  When asked to describe each member he pointed out his mother, his siblings, and himself.  Notably, a father was missing from this picture.  When one of the sponsors asked if his father lived in his home, he pointed at an angel in the corner labeled "Dios" and said, "God is my father."  I wanted to cry right then and there.  This little guy doesn't have a father figure here on earth, but he knows who God is and claims him for his very own.  He touched the heart of this "madrina" at that moment almost as if he were my own sponsored child! 

When we went to leave, Mai prayed for our group and specifically mentioned one of the ladies in his prayer and how thankful he was for her coming.  She didn't have a sponsored child on this trip, but I'm sure at that moment she felt as if she did.  This is one little guy I will NEVER forget! 

Mai Oh Mai Oh Mai...what a beautiful child!

That Certain Sparkle

I can't believe I've been home from Colombia for over a month now, it seems like just yesterday I was there with my girls.  I already shared about meeting tiny Daniela, but I didn't just meet her, I meet 2 beautiful girls.  I was so nervous, my roommate could certainly tell you that! I worried if they would get along, would they be shy? Would they like me?  Will they have fun? Will they like the gifts I brought them?  I've been through this before and had an idea of what to expect, yet it's a whole new ball game when different children are involved.  I was sure Sara would be loving and clingy and thought Daniela might be a bit shy. They ended up the exact opposite! Daniela would hold my hand and be very huggy while Sara was a bit more quiet and reserved, yet she had a certain sparkle in her eyes that spoke more loudly than words.

Sara was a beautiful girl blossoming into a young lady. The light in her eyes just held me in awe! Her photos were very stark compared to the beautiful girl I saw. And she was incredibly tall! Her smile could light up a room.  That sparkle in her eyes made me smile and just want to laugh out loud with joy!






I often wondered throughout the day what was going through Sara's mind.  She seemed to enjoy the rides and attractions, yet seemed a little caught between childhood and adulthood. The time we spent look through the letters I sent her, her family photos, and the gifts I had brought was the time I felt most connected to my Sara.  That sparkle was the most evident when she spoke of her family and the letters we share. She also loved the gifts that I had made. 

Saying good bye was very hard. I was emotional, of course, but hearing them both sniffle and see them wipe their eyes touched my heart to the core.  These girls are my life. I will NEVER forget the smiles, the laughter, the tears, and especially that beautiful sparkle.