There are many times I read things or hear about things and I think, "I really would like to share that with someone." - Whether the "that" is a video, an article, a blog post, etc. I often save things in my blog reader and think, "I will go back and write a blog post about this one to share." Lately, there have been a lot of those instances. So I have decided to share them and not offer commentary on them. If you want to read them, great! If you don't, that is fine too.
If you do read them your life will be blessed forever and if you don't, you may grow warts on your nose. - Oh, wait, I got this confused with those crazy chain letters! Actually, nothing will happen to you if you don't read them, so if you suddenly get a wart on your nose, don't come around blaming me!
So here are completely unrelated, but equally interesting, things that I would like to share with you:
An article about the way our culture lies to women
A blog post about the Tim Tebow saga
A commentary about the ever present discussion about the difference between truth & grace
The "Mission In Action" web series is at the end of season 1. Check out the videos of missions work for children around the world.
A video of Candace Cameron-Bure's trip with Compassion to the DR -
Okay, I have to give a little commentary on this one. Candace (I can
call her that, since she's my imaginary BFF) was born the same year I
was and I grew up watching her on Full House and have watched interviews
with her, etc. I always felt like if we knew each other, we would have
been good friends, so it makes it even more exciting that she is now a
Compassion supporter/speaker. - Also, the video is documenting their
first visit to child survival program that was started through the money
Val Bure, Candace's husband, won on the Canadian version of "Dancing
with the Stars"
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Valentine's Day Plans
Josh and I were talking about Valentine's Day and whether we would make any major plans or if we'd just do our normal evening out to dinner.
I did some research on the internet to see what was going on in our area during that time. I discovered that Air Supply is going to be in concert on February 12th only about 25 miles from us. I told Josh that would be a good Valentine's Day gift to me. He mentioned something about needing to gouge his eyes and ears out to go, or something like that. He is so over dramatic! But then I found out that the tickets are over $100 each, and decided I wasn't interested in seeing them anymore!
But it is okay if he won't take me to see Air Supply, because he does things every day to Make Love Out of Nothing at All, like getting up last night when Bella threw up twice and not even waking me up. He asked me yesterday evening when we were talking about it, "What does 'Making Love Out of Nothing at All' even mean? I think letting your wife sleep in the middle of the night, even though you're the one who has to get up and go to work in the morning suffices. And he shows me every day that I am Every Women In the World to him.
I can just torture him with the music at home - and my singing of their music, which is even more...err...meaningful. Last night I went onto You Tube and watched some of their old music videos. If you want a good laugh, you could check it out!
I did some research on the internet to see what was going on in our area during that time. I discovered that Air Supply is going to be in concert on February 12th only about 25 miles from us. I told Josh that would be a good Valentine's Day gift to me. He mentioned something about needing to gouge his eyes and ears out to go, or something like that. He is so over dramatic! But then I found out that the tickets are over $100 each, and decided I wasn't interested in seeing them anymore!
But it is okay if he won't take me to see Air Supply, because he does things every day to Make Love Out of Nothing at All, like getting up last night when Bella threw up twice and not even waking me up. He asked me yesterday evening when we were talking about it, "What does 'Making Love Out of Nothing at All' even mean? I think letting your wife sleep in the middle of the night, even though you're the one who has to get up and go to work in the morning suffices. And he shows me every day that I am Every Women In the World to him.
I can just torture him with the music at home - and my singing of their music, which is even more...err...meaningful. Last night I went onto You Tube and watched some of their old music videos. If you want a good laugh, you could check it out!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Just a Minute
Wess Stafford has just published another book. It is very different than his last book, "Too Small To Ignore", which detailed his own life and how it has effected his ministry, which I also highly suggest reading. This book, titled Just a Minute, is a series of other people's stories of how in "Just a Minute" there life was effected by someone else. Check out the website to watch the trailer for the book or to order it. All of Wess Stafford's proceeds for the book are going back to Compassion International. It is a book that can be read easily when you only have just a minute (sorry, I can't help the puns!) and it inspires you to realize that sometimes the littlest things can have the hugest impact.
On the website, you can also download free study guides. They have different ones for individuals, homeschooling, a Sunday School class, a small group, or even a sermon. There is even a place on the website for you to share your own story.
A long, long time ago, in late October 2010 to be exact, Compassion posted a request on their blog. The request was for people to send them stories about how someone had influenced their life by just a few words or by a simple action, etc. I wrote this blog post and submitted it.
Many months later, after I had long forgotten about even writing the entry, I got an e-mail asking if the editor of the book could call me to talk about it. I was so surprised. Out of the hundreds, probably thousands, of entries that were submitted, they were interested in talking to me about mine. So I talked on the phone with the editor of a while, detailing the accounts I had shared a little more. He took it, did his editing magic, and sent me the final copy to okay. I hadn't told anyone, other than my husband, since it isn't like they are publishing a book that I wrote and there are 60 other people's accounts included as well. But I got my copy in the mail yesterday and I have to admit that I am excited about it! Josh told the kids that there was a story mommy had written in the book and Elias asked me to read it to him. He thought it was pretty cool - except he didn't like that it mentioned I had two kids and it didn't include his name!
One of the people who took "just a minute" in my life is my sister Tracey. I have not told her anything about the book and she doesn't read my blog, so she has no idea I even submitted the story. I cannot wait to send her a copy of the book. Another person who is included in the story is my 8th grade social studies teacher. A few years ago, I had written him a letter and went back to my middle school to tell him how he had changed the course of my life. It meant a lot to both of us for me to share that with him. I may just get him a copy too.
I encourage you today - if there is someone who has had a profound effect on your life, don't wait until tomorrow or a week or a year from now to tell them. Take just a minute now to let them know. You won't regret it.
On the website, you can also download free study guides. They have different ones for individuals, homeschooling, a Sunday School class, a small group, or even a sermon. There is even a place on the website for you to share your own story.
A long, long time ago, in late October 2010 to be exact, Compassion posted a request on their blog. The request was for people to send them stories about how someone had influenced their life by just a few words or by a simple action, etc. I wrote this blog post and submitted it.
Many months later, after I had long forgotten about even writing the entry, I got an e-mail asking if the editor of the book could call me to talk about it. I was so surprised. Out of the hundreds, probably thousands, of entries that were submitted, they were interested in talking to me about mine. So I talked on the phone with the editor of a while, detailing the accounts I had shared a little more. He took it, did his editing magic, and sent me the final copy to okay. I hadn't told anyone, other than my husband, since it isn't like they are publishing a book that I wrote and there are 60 other people's accounts included as well. But I got my copy in the mail yesterday and I have to admit that I am excited about it! Josh told the kids that there was a story mommy had written in the book and Elias asked me to read it to him. He thought it was pretty cool - except he didn't like that it mentioned I had two kids and it didn't include his name!
One of the people who took "just a minute" in my life is my sister Tracey. I have not told her anything about the book and she doesn't read my blog, so she has no idea I even submitted the story. I cannot wait to send her a copy of the book. Another person who is included in the story is my 8th grade social studies teacher. A few years ago, I had written him a letter and went back to my middle school to tell him how he had changed the course of my life. It meant a lot to both of us for me to share that with him. I may just get him a copy too.
I encourage you today - if there is someone who has had a profound effect on your life, don't wait until tomorrow or a week or a year from now to tell them. Take just a minute now to let them know. You won't regret it.
Funny video about homeschooling
The problem with telling the truth
If you saw the movie "A few good men", you probably remember the famous line by Jack Nicholson. In response to Tom Cruise's statement, "I want the truth", he says, "You can't handle the truth." - Even if you never saw the movie, you have probably heard it quoted somewhere. I think so many times as people we say we want the truth, but that really isn't...well...the truth! We want the truth when it is easy for us to understand or manage.
One of the reasons that I have been able to support Compassion wholeheartedly over the years is their integrity. As an advocate, I have been told by the organization to be careful not to sugar-coat or sensationalize the needs and people in poverty that Compassion serves. As an advocate, I always want people to want to sponsor a child, but I have to be careful never to coerce people into thinking that just because a child is sponsored, they are going to go on to a happily-ever-after life. Some do. I would dare to say many do - if we don't assume "happily-ever-after" for them is what we would expect it to be here in America. But some don't. After all, these kids are human and they have choices to make every day in a very sinful world and the effects of that sinful world are all around them. If we were guaranteed that every time we helped someone it would be thoroughly effective, than we would eventually live in a perfect world.
My first Compassion child I ever sponsored through Compassion ran away at 16 years old and eloped. I had sponsored her for 7 years. I don't know the circumstances surrounding her elopement or if she is living a life that would be pleasing to God today. The man she married may be a Christian or he may not. From her letters, I had learned that her home life was not a happy one and that her mother was not completely enthused that she was part of the Compassion program. Could she have actually met a nice boy at the church and knew her mother would not approve and in a moment of teenage rashness, she ran off and got married? Or had she succumbed to her environment and been enticed by the passions of the world and chosen to marry a man to whom she'd later regret being attached? I will never know the answers to these questions. All I can do is continue to pray for her and hope that the lessons she learned when she was part of the Compassion program will be a root, down deep in her heart, and that if she is not following after God now, she will eventually find her way back again.
When I read a Compassion blog post a couple days ago, I thought of her again. Yet, this time I realized how much time had past since she left the program. I thought, "She may already have little ones who will be old enough to enter the child survival program or even the sponsorship program. Would she seek after their help or is it possible that she is doing well enough to not need their assistance?" Again, that is a question to which I will never know the answer. It is crazy to think that she is no longer "my Compassion child", but a young woman who has a life of her own now.
But as I have sponsored her, plus several others over the last 13+ years, one thing that I have seen time and again with Compassion is their ability to admit the truth, even if it isn't so pretty. They know that people aren't programs and that programs are only as effective as the people who are part of them. They have reinvented the process of how they do things so many times (even sometimes at the resistance of the advocates) to make sure that they are not more committed to their system than to the people they serve. They have tried things that were huge successes and things they decided later were ineffective and had to be discontinued or redeveloped or molded or...you get the picture.
That is one of the reasons I enjoy reading the Compassion blog. There are many positive stories, but also several that just bear hard truths. A recent Compassion blog post talks about the balance that a writer for Compassion struggles with every day. If you have a few minutes check it out.
One of the reasons that I have been able to support Compassion wholeheartedly over the years is their integrity. As an advocate, I have been told by the organization to be careful not to sugar-coat or sensationalize the needs and people in poverty that Compassion serves. As an advocate, I always want people to want to sponsor a child, but I have to be careful never to coerce people into thinking that just because a child is sponsored, they are going to go on to a happily-ever-after life. Some do. I would dare to say many do - if we don't assume "happily-ever-after" for them is what we would expect it to be here in America. But some don't. After all, these kids are human and they have choices to make every day in a very sinful world and the effects of that sinful world are all around them. If we were guaranteed that every time we helped someone it would be thoroughly effective, than we would eventually live in a perfect world.
My first Compassion child I ever sponsored through Compassion ran away at 16 years old and eloped. I had sponsored her for 7 years. I don't know the circumstances surrounding her elopement or if she is living a life that would be pleasing to God today. The man she married may be a Christian or he may not. From her letters, I had learned that her home life was not a happy one and that her mother was not completely enthused that she was part of the Compassion program. Could she have actually met a nice boy at the church and knew her mother would not approve and in a moment of teenage rashness, she ran off and got married? Or had she succumbed to her environment and been enticed by the passions of the world and chosen to marry a man to whom she'd later regret being attached? I will never know the answers to these questions. All I can do is continue to pray for her and hope that the lessons she learned when she was part of the Compassion program will be a root, down deep in her heart, and that if she is not following after God now, she will eventually find her way back again.
When I read a Compassion blog post a couple days ago, I thought of her again. Yet, this time I realized how much time had past since she left the program. I thought, "She may already have little ones who will be old enough to enter the child survival program or even the sponsorship program. Would she seek after their help or is it possible that she is doing well enough to not need their assistance?" Again, that is a question to which I will never know the answer. It is crazy to think that she is no longer "my Compassion child", but a young woman who has a life of her own now.
But as I have sponsored her, plus several others over the last 13+ years, one thing that I have seen time and again with Compassion is their ability to admit the truth, even if it isn't so pretty. They know that people aren't programs and that programs are only as effective as the people who are part of them. They have reinvented the process of how they do things so many times (even sometimes at the resistance of the advocates) to make sure that they are not more committed to their system than to the people they serve. They have tried things that were huge successes and things they decided later were ineffective and had to be discontinued or redeveloped or molded or...you get the picture.
That is one of the reasons I enjoy reading the Compassion blog. There are many positive stories, but also several that just bear hard truths. A recent Compassion blog post talks about the balance that a writer for Compassion struggles with every day. If you have a few minutes check it out.
Friday, January 13, 2012
An Inside Look: Correspondence at Compassion
As a stay-at-home mom, a job I am in charge of (and dread much) is "processing" our mail. I get about 5-8 pieces of mail a day on average. Can you imagine getting 1,000 pieces of mail a day? How about 7,000? That is how much the Compassion office in Colorado Springs get every day. Many people wonder why Compassion can't take more diverse gifts in addition to sponsor letters. But what most people do not realize is that everything that is sent, in addition to letters, has to be properly labeled and attached, so that it gets to the appropriate child. But that doesn't mean that Compassion wants sponsors to stop sending pictures, stickers, etc. - In fact, those types of gifts are always welcomed and encouraged. Of course, that is one of the reasons that the new on-line writing tool has expedited letter writing so much. I am thankful to all the men and women who help the communication with our sponsored children so much easier.
Check out the link below to see pictures of the processing center and how they make sure each and every sponsor/child letter gets to the appropriate place.
An Inside Look: Correspondence at Compassion
Check out the link below to see pictures of the processing center and how they make sure each and every sponsor/child letter gets to the appropriate place.
An Inside Look: Correspondence at Compassion
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Trying to define me...
Recently, I had the privilege to tell a little of my life's testimony in two different situations to the ladies at our church. As I look at these two very different accounts of my life, I feel a little like I have a split personality. One talks about the pain and troubles I had growing up and the other talks about the benefit I have received by being mentored throughout my life. One talks about an area of sin and weakness I am struggling with and the other talks about an area of my life where God has used me to be an example for others. They seem like two pieces of a puzzle that do not fit together.
When I am asked about my life, I often have trouble categorizing it as good or bad or defining what it was like at all. Though there was much dysfunction, there were happy times too. And though there was lots of emotional upheaval, there were many good memories made along the way. The pain I have experienced has shaped me as much, if not more, than the happy times.
I always want to shield my kids from unhappiness and heartache and have everything just right. This includes me wanting to be perfect in all my dealings with them. When I really blow it, I will tell Josh that I am convinced that our kids are going to grow up to be heathens because of my poor parenting. He just shakes his head because he knows that I know upbringing alone does not make you who you will be. Only God can have a final say in that.
Thankfully, God blessed me with the grace to learn not only from my own mistakes, but from others' mistakes as well - which has saved me from a lot of personal heartache throughout my life! From a young age, the Holy Spirit helped me to find and accept the good that could be found in people or situations, like a miner mines a plain, ugly rock for a little bit of treasure.
I have lost some of that ability through the years.The ability is not my natural self, but only God working through me. When I stray from God, I get fussy and selfish and want to complain about all the bad and how it gives me excuses to be bad myself. I want to look at others' faults to make my faults look less offensive. It is a sad cycle that perpetually leaves me only feeling worse.
So, I guess I do have a split personality - my natural self vs. God's Holy Spirit dwelling in me; the results of the sinful world's effects on me vs. the results of His grace washing away the hurt and shame and redeeming my life.
"My hope is built"
When I am asked about my life, I often have trouble categorizing it as good or bad or defining what it was like at all. Though there was much dysfunction, there were happy times too. And though there was lots of emotional upheaval, there were many good memories made along the way. The pain I have experienced has shaped me as much, if not more, than the happy times.
I always want to shield my kids from unhappiness and heartache and have everything just right. This includes me wanting to be perfect in all my dealings with them. When I really blow it, I will tell Josh that I am convinced that our kids are going to grow up to be heathens because of my poor parenting. He just shakes his head because he knows that I know upbringing alone does not make you who you will be. Only God can have a final say in that.
Thankfully, God blessed me with the grace to learn not only from my own mistakes, but from others' mistakes as well - which has saved me from a lot of personal heartache throughout my life! From a young age, the Holy Spirit helped me to find and accept the good that could be found in people or situations, like a miner mines a plain, ugly rock for a little bit of treasure.
I have lost some of that ability through the years.The ability is not my natural self, but only God working through me. When I stray from God, I get fussy and selfish and want to complain about all the bad and how it gives me excuses to be bad myself. I want to look at others' faults to make my faults look less offensive. It is a sad cycle that perpetually leaves me only feeling worse.
So, I guess I do have a split personality - my natural self vs. God's Holy Spirit dwelling in me; the results of the sinful world's effects on me vs. the results of His grace washing away the hurt and shame and redeeming my life.
"My hope is built"
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
Refrain
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain
Monday, January 2, 2012
Mary's Response
I was reading a devotion about when the angel appeared to Mary and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ. The devotion asked something like, "What is noteworthy about Mary's response to what the angel told her?" Now this isn't a new question. I have heard this question asked and talked about many, many times before. Often there are references made to Mary's faith in believing that God could do what He said.
But something struck me unexpectedly as I was thinking about the question. I remember when I was preparing to marry Josh. I was like a woman obsessed. I didn't want anything to stand in the way of our marriage plans and the future we were preparing to start. Now, I know that Mary and Joseph's marriage was probably arranged and so it was a little different, but I wonder if Mary ever thought, "God, you are really messing up my plans! I want to be a young married wife and not already pregnant when I get married and be a mother soon after - especially the mother of the Savior. I just want a normal life like everyone else. That is so much pressure! Can't you find someone else to do it?" It isn't her faith that surprises me, as much as her unselfishness in submitting to God's plans, even though she had to know it would reek havoc on the plans she had already made.
I so often complain or feel disgruntled when things don't go the way I think they should go. If I have plans and they don't come to fruition, I can be the most miserable person! Often I am not reacting to the negativity of the alternative, but I am mad and frustrated that I didn't get to choose the alternative. When sickness or weather prevents us from doing something, it is not that staying home is that terrible. I regularly enjoy staying home. It is the fact that I didn't get to be the one to chose to stay home.
I pray that I could have the unselfish response of Mary.
But something struck me unexpectedly as I was thinking about the question. I remember when I was preparing to marry Josh. I was like a woman obsessed. I didn't want anything to stand in the way of our marriage plans and the future we were preparing to start. Now, I know that Mary and Joseph's marriage was probably arranged and so it was a little different, but I wonder if Mary ever thought, "God, you are really messing up my plans! I want to be a young married wife and not already pregnant when I get married and be a mother soon after - especially the mother of the Savior. I just want a normal life like everyone else. That is so much pressure! Can't you find someone else to do it?" It isn't her faith that surprises me, as much as her unselfishness in submitting to God's plans, even though she had to know it would reek havoc on the plans she had already made.
I so often complain or feel disgruntled when things don't go the way I think they should go. If I have plans and they don't come to fruition, I can be the most miserable person! Often I am not reacting to the negativity of the alternative, but I am mad and frustrated that I didn't get to choose the alternative. When sickness or weather prevents us from doing something, it is not that staying home is that terrible. I regularly enjoy staying home. It is the fact that I didn't get to be the one to chose to stay home.
I pray that I could have the unselfish response of Mary.
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