Joy

One of the joys of teaching piano is having a student play for others. One of the joys of belonging to a grace-filled church is said church not only allowing, but loving having my students play for the offertory time. Look at this sweet very "picture of concentration" girl:


Jessica is one very talented little pianist!

Letter to Mukashyaka

I've had quite a bit of correspondence with Compassion regarding our sponsorship of Mukashyaka. David and I desperately want to bond with her. Considering she is a little girl from Rwanda and for the most part actual handwritten letter correspondence is nearly obsolete now, we try to include along with our letters a small gift. One letter will have a length of ribbon. The next will have a packet of stickers.

The problem is, we try to send items that are a smidgen over 1/4" thick. Do you know how hard it is to find items to send that are that skinny??? We included a sweet little Golden Book with the last letter we sent. Remember the beautiful illustrations from Eloise Wilkin? The particular book was too thick. Ugh! I grow weary of such restraints.

I had been trying to figure out a way to add interest to what must be very boring letters from us. The last letter from her began with, "your daughter, Mukashyaka Alphonsine greets you in the name of Jesus." Oh, my goodness...she had me. I knew I had to do something more.

Last night I had 5 of the kids from Child 2 Child write her letters. I hadn't had time to read them until just a bit ago. They are all lovely and sweet, handwritten, and from the heart. I was almost finished with them and about to grab an envelope to mail when I read the last one in my hand. Keep in mind that this is from a 10 yr old New Hope girl. Here's a portion:

"Do you know that every day and every second of your life God and my church and I are caring for you? We love you. God cares for you and knows what's happening however you're feeling."

Can there be much better testimony of how the Lord is working in the heart of our kids at New Hope?

I'm discovering that most problems that develop within a church are brought on by adults.

The people brought children to Jesus, hoping He might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and Me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them. (Mark 10:15)

If only... Why is it so hard for us? What happens to adults that we have such trouble seeing the good in life?

I want to be like New Hope's little 10 yr old girl. I want to be an encourager that shares the Good News easily and simply.

Worth the Sacrifice

The King will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of My people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for Me." Matthew 25:40

This morning begins our challenge of eating rice & beans for a week. Our breakfast here consisted of plain white rice and coffee. This is a part of New Hope's effort to see what it might even start to be like to eat like the more than 800,000,000 who go to bed hungry each day.

God has been working in ways we've never seen Him work with New Hope before. From individuals sponsoring children via Compassion or World Vision to a group of little girls crafting their hearts out in order to sell their items to church members with monies going to hungry children throughout the world, to our adult couples class sponsoring Worth the Sacrifice - the Lord is changing us. He is growing our hearts bigger and deeper in our love for The Least of These.

It's one of those things that is so easy to not think about. We live out our incredibly God-blessed lives turning on the tap for clean pure water, grabbing a snack, and eating meals large enough to feed an impoverished family 4 times over. We take our daily bread for granted simply because it's always been there for us.

It's staggering to find out the stats on how many people do not have clean drinking water or how little some have to eat. We've found that once you actually take the small step to coming to know a child through a sponsorship or simply reading a blog written by someone who is devoting his/her life to caring for those who have nothing, there's a shift in the way you view the world. It brings you closer to the Father...and there is no better place to be.

Ick! I'm lukewarm.

I have the privilege of working with some young girls on Wednesday nights who have joined in whole-heartedly ministering to those who are impoverished. This "Child 2 Child" ministry of New Hope is making a difference.

At present they're making very cool craft items which are offered for sale to church members. The monies last month went to kids in Haiti while this month the proceeds of the sales will go to buy milk for babies in Guatemala. Now, these aren't kid type crafts, but have been very nice items. We put a "suggested donation" price on them and New Hope has been awesome about supporting the ministry.

JoAnn, Mary, and I are working hard to make sure the kids realize not only the impact their work will have on the lives of children living in poverty, but also on their own lives. We spent time tonight trying to explain one aspect of why and what the difference is between good works done through community/school organizations and good works done in Jesus' name.

I really felt like it was enough, and maybe for these young girls, it is - at least for now. But, while reading Crazy Love tonight I came across this:

Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for "extreme" Christian, not average ones. Lukewarm people call "radical" what Jesus expected of His followers.

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (James 1:22)

"Anyone, the, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." (James 4:17)

I could easily turn this into "we" or "New Hope" because I'm sure it would be just as truthful, but this is really about me. Egad! I've said jokingly so many times, "And, we all know it's all about me" when I was being facitious. This time I have to admit, it is all about me, because I'm not doing what I should. I'm not taking those hard steps of obedience.

I recognized myself as being one of those lukewarm people. It's past time for me to "do" instead of "listen" to the words of Christ. There are no excuses that are valid.

A great song about an awesome Savior - and one I hope we'll be using during the Christmas season this year at New Hope.