Treasure Every Moment

This morning the DJ on the Christian radio station I was listening to was describing how he was feeling about his son's graduation from high school. He was reminding parents everywhere about how quickly time passes, and how your children grow so fast. How often we (I) forget to treasure every moment and to let go of some things in order to appreciate the people we love most.

Dharavi Slum in Mumbai - from Wikimedia Commons

To me, this includes my Compassion children. I get so busy during the week trying to do a billion other things that sometimes I forget to just be thankful for all that I have in my life...not things, but people. I'm so thankful for my sweet son, and all the joy he brings to my heart. I'm grateful to my beautiful Compassion children for making me a better person, one day at a time.

Last night I took some time to sit down with my special notebook that I keep full of my Compassion kids' photos and letters, and to reread the letters I've received so far. I was blessed again and again as I reread each letter and planned what to mail them this week.

Do you write to your sponsored children? Again and again Center directors and pastors, Compassion workers, and the children who have graduated from the program tell us how much it means to sponsored children to hear from their sponsors on a regular basis. And the blessings extend both ways--through the preparations of reading past letters, praying over your children, and writing to them you are developing relationships--between you and your Compassion children and between you and God.

Jesus' ministry was about relationships. He came to save the world, but while he was hear on earth he worked through relationships, one person at a time. He took the time to hold a hand, speak a kind word (or sometimes a stern word), to teach, to laugh, and to love. For those of us who call ourselves Christians, that is our ministry, as well. These are treasures stored up in heaven. We have this moment only once.

If you haven't written your child in a while, please take a few minutes today and do so. You can use Compassion's online writing tool or you can download one of my free sponsor writing packets. Either way, it's easy--all it takes is a few minutes.

If you haven't sponsored a child yet, what are you waiting for? A sweet little face out there is waiting for your prayers, your love, your encouragement. Can you be the hands and feet of Christ to that child? Poverty stinks, but YOU can change the story. Think you can't afford it? Check out this awesome post on Red Letter Christians and think twice: http://www.redletterchristians.org/spoiled-witches-puerile-vanity-and-compassion-international/

Skunk Cabbage

  “I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.” author L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables series author)

Eastern skunk cabbage

 Sometime between today and Thursday I will sit down and write to my sponsored children. I make a point to do this bi-weekly, which may be a little frequent for some of my younger children, but I try to keep my letters to them short and sweet anyhow, given that as the mother of a toddler I know they don't have the longest attention span.

Whether you've sponsored for a decade or a day, letter writing can be a challenge. Internet tools provided by Compassion and countless blogs before this one have made it much easier to come up with ideas, but it can still be a daunting task to write to someone worlds away from you not only in terms of physical distance, but in age and spiritual growth.

What I write about depends, much like this blog, on what grips me on that particular day. There are things about each of my children that stir my heart in different ways. But, more than anything else, I encourage them. Who knows if they care about the national parks in the United States, or what my son did in school today? But they certainly care that someone seemingly a million miles away has taken time to write to them, to maybe send some stickers or a photograph, and to let them know that they matter.

In fact, the cornerstone of Compassion's child sponsorship program is the relationship between Sponsor and child. Even if you never hear from your child, you could be influencing them in an important way. I remember telling my son not too long ago that words are very important and very powerful. I don't recall the context, but I do recall his little face wrinkling up in laughter at how silly that sounded. But it is true. The Bible says so in at least 147 verses. Our words have the power to shape lives, to shape the future, to mold minds and careers and dreams and ambitions. Our encouraging words are sweet-smelling roses in the hands of our little ones across the globe.

What words will you speak into the lives of your Compassion kids (or any other child you are blessed to encounter) today? Sometimes it's hard to come up with something NEW to say after 40 letters, when you're trying to remember what you said last week or month or 3 months ago. Here's a list of possibilities for sending a rose of encouragement to a child you may not know too well:

• I/we love you.
• I/we are praying for you.
• Jesus loves you.
• Our church is praying for you.
• We hung your picture on our wall with the rest of our family!
• We talk about you during the day and what you might be doing!
• You worked really hard on the last letter you sent me, I can tell!
• I love getting letters from you--you are learning so much!
• I love hearing about your life.
• I love hearing about your family/church
• Your drawings on your letters are really fun for us to see!
• Thank you for writing to me/send me a drawing-it was really special to me!
• I am so proud to be your sponsor!
• I really appreciate our relationship
• I am looking forward to getting to know you over time
• Your country/family/villiage/center looks very unique/beautiful/interesting
• You are beautiful to Jesus!
• You are so unique! There is no one else like you!
• Jesus knows everything about you, he has all the hairs on your head numbered!
• You are important to me.
• You are important to Jesus.
• You have a very special purpose.
• Jesus has great plans for your life!
• Don't ever give up.
• You seem so resourceful!

Remember--your words are so important! I know many "seasoned" sponsors have spoken these words of encouragement and many, many more into the lives of many children over the years. I would love to hear how you encourage your sponsored children (or even your biological children!) through a thoughtful word.