Yesterday I stood inside a beautiful building with a thousand other believers. Lights flashing, hands raised, sounds blaring, we joined together in praise of the One who created us all. The one who still works miracles. The One who has not forgotten, has not let go, has not surrendered His creation.

But worship was different for me. As we entered the sanctuary with it’s four solid walls, high, vaulted ceiling and cushioned, comfortable seats, I told Lee that I feel different. Not different in a “I want to sell all we have and live in a hut eating bananas and tangerines” sort of different, though. It’s more of a, “I’ve seen God’s power and ability to move in and through His people and I don’t ever want to lose this feeling of awe and gratitude for who He is” sort of feeling.

Continue reading at Minivans Are Hot »

Thursday night after dinner Shaun asked us what we thought would be the hardest part about going back home.

My answer?

“I don’t know how to go home after spending the last week here — I didn’t want to come here in the first place.” It was supposed to be funny — so I’m glad the group laughed at me, because I was sobbing at that point and really needed a bit of relief. {I cried so many times last week, really it was no surprise that I cried once again on Thursday.} We left on Friday, May 4th, and the entire week leading up was hugely emotional for me. I knew I needed go on the trip but I didn’t *want* to. Every feeling from this past week has been shot straight into my heart.

Continue reading at Gussy Sews »

Mothers everywhere love their babies and want them to grow up and to succeed in life.

Partner with a mother (or if the child is an orphan, partner with their guardian) and help ensure that their child is cared for, fed, schooled, immunized, in community with other children, surrounded by mentors, clothed and given the chance to learn about God’s Word.

Is there any better gift?

Continue reading at The Nesting Place »

Every night of this trip, all of the Compassion bloggers have come together to share stories, snacks, laughter, tears, check facts and spellings (Kiswahili – oh my!) and do what we love most – write. I have been so blessed to share this week with five amazing bloggers whose styles and perspectives differ greatly from my own. There is so much more that I want need to say about my experiences this week, and I know that the stories will come to me slowly over time in many future posts, emails, and conversations. But for now, I want you to meet the incredibly gifted people I have come to love this week and hear about our experience through their words.

Continue reading at Resourceful Mommy »

Warning:: Moms of boys may experience uncomfortable, unexplainable side effects while reading this post. Side effects are treatable with a prompt visit here to sponsor a teenage boy. In order to alleviate the discomfort, take one or two of those and email me in the morning–for real, you should email me after you do this.

It’s the day I get to meet our sponsored child, Topiwo. We just started sponsoring him right before this trip so all I have is a photo of him and a name I’m not sure how to pronounce so I call him “Topo” to myself and the initial information that Compassion sends, but we hadn’t corresponded through letters yet so, you know, we didn’t really know each other.

Continue reading at The Nesting Place »