One Word... Hope

"Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man."

-- Victor Hugo

When asked by Compassion International to write three things about one word this week, it took me all of one half second to decide. HOPE. If you read last week's blog, you know that I used the verse Jeremiah 29:11 to emphasize that God has a plan... for us and for these children.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Hope frees. The opposite of hope is hopelessness. Despair. Disbelief. Discouragement. When hope fades, the clutches of death (both spiritual and physical) grow stronger. By sponsoring a child through Compassion, you begin the process of freeing that child from the shackles of despair and extreme poverty. You free that child from the bondage of illiteracy and the heavy weight of responsibility and worry that so often haunts these children.

Hope gives. When the shackles are broken, hope gives wings to dreams. It encourages ambition, and fans the flames of aspirations. It breeds confidence and the powerful realization that things can be different. Hope gives these children the opportunity to write a different story. Not only does sponsorship change the lives of children, it also changes the lives of their families. Most every parent wants the best for their children. In a letter from Juan Guerrero, a coordinator for the student center where Rudy (one of our sponsored children) attends, he writes, "I can see the joy on the faces of mothers when they realize that their children will have the opportunity to learn, to have medical check-ups, and to play in a safe environment, and much more." Hope gives joy to parents, often when they need it the most.

Hope saves. Jesus is the hope of the world. Children in Compassion projects receive attention to physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, and spiritual development. They are taught about the hope we have in Jesus Christ, and His unconditional, sacrificial love for them. As Guerrero writes, "I can tell the difference when families know that even in the most desperate situation, there is a God who loves them and wants to protect them and to provide for them.  Families who have accepted Christ in this community have a different perspective. They can see things under a positive light and know that their needs will always be met."

There is a story about a little boy walking along the beach and picking up starfish, who are struggling to survive, and throwing them back in the water. An older gentleman comes along and says, "There are so many. You'll never be able to save them all! What does it matter?"

The little boy responds, while throwing another starfish back into the water, "It mattered to that one."

Please take the time to think and pray about sponsoring a child through Compassion International. You have the power to give HOPE...one child at a time. 

Click on the link below to sponsor a child today...

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm?referer=133388

 

To My Younger Self...

First Grade

As I sit in the corner of the classroom, surrounded by a study carrel and immersed in my own imagination... I write.  I am six years old, and Miss Turner is my hero.  While everyone else is working on I Don't Know What, she lets me slip away into a world where I am most at ease.  She encourages me to enter my first writing contest.  Thirty years ago, she recognized a need to differentiate in the classroom before anyone knew the definition of the word.  She is still my hero, and if I could go back and speak to my six year-old self I would want me to know...
1. ...that I need to hug Miss Turner more.
2....that God loves me and has a plan for my life, and that Miss Turner will unknowingly play a vital role in that.

It was sixth grade.
Please pardon the bangs,
pre-braces teeth, Miami Vice collar, etc.

Fast forward a few years, and I am still writing.  Only now, it isn't quite as "cool" to be smart. I will keep it quiet, blend into the crowd a little more. I will have the most amazing sixth grade Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Rydell, pouring into my life. I will begin memorizing scripture, and learning who Jesus is on a weekly basis. I will learn about a God who loves me, will never leave me, and never forsake me...even in my darkest hours. The summer after sixth grade, when I am twelve years old, my grandfather will commit suicide. With one tragic act, I will experience the most unimaginable depths of loss and grief of my young life. Much later, I will write about this experience in a college classroom. If I could, I would tell that uneasy sixth-grader, "God has a plan." Those scriptures I first learned almost 25 years ago are still the easiest to recall in times of both trouble and joy.

Such great memories with this ragtag bunch!

At the age of fourteen I began battling an unknown illness that would plague me for a year.  We would travel to doctors around the nation seeking answers, and I would miss most of my freshman year of high school.  As my condition improved, I emerged much like the caterpillar who enters the cocoon as one creature, but emerges as quite another.  I had wings. I was confident. I learned who my true friends were, the ones who stood by me even when I wasn't very fun to be around. I gained a valuable life lesson on the beauty and fragility of life at an age when most girls were still seeing how high they could tease their bangs. I met a boy who would take me on our first "date" to his church youth group. There, I would hear for the first time that Jesus wanted a personal relationship with me and I would really, truly ask Jesus to come into my heart. If I could go back and speak to that teenager, I would tell myself again, "God has a plan."

In college, I would begin writing again.  I would use written assignments to satisfy my need for creative expression.  I would meet an art professor who recognized a gift that he had no reason to acknowledge. No, I had not excelled in the art studio.  Quite the contrary, unfortunately. I was a hard worker, however, and somehow still earned my "A". One of our final assignments was to write about an aesthetic experience. Hallelujah! I wrote about an experience in Italy the summer before while visiting the castle where the Mona Lisa was supposedly painted.  He stopped me after class to speak to me about my writing. He wrote on my assignment, "You have an amazing gift.  I hope you continue to use it."  All of these years later, I still have that paper. For the longest time, I wasn't exactly certain why I kept it tucked away. Once again, I would tell my college self, "God has a plan."

During my senior year of college, I would learn that the boy who had asked me to his church youth group back in high school... the boy with whom I had experienced a break-up of EPIC proportions... was living in Guatemala and managing medical missions and relief teams.  God would gently nudge me to send him an e-mail... and the rest, as they say, is history.  During our first year of marriage we would visit the internet café in Antigua, Guatemala, where he first received "the" e-mail.  I would tell that college senior, "God has a plan."

He did. And He does.  He led my husband and I to a country thousands of miles away from our own.  A beautiful country filled with lush, fertile soils and mountain peaks shrouded in fog. A country with the tallest corn I have ever seen, and the biggest, strangest insects.  A country whose people dress in every color of the rainbow... all at once. A Mayan culture whose gentle, sweet spirits match their colorful attire. Then, God decided to mess us up.  He showed us "the least of these." Poverty and violence.  Children whose parents were killed in the civil war, and others who were abandoned. Sadness and hopelessness in the midst of some of God's greatest handiwork. Suddenly, we could not ignore the call of Jesus to care for "the least of these."  Through Compassion International, we have sponsored two children from Guatemala (one boy, age 7, and one girl, age 9) for the past two years. When I write to these children, I am often led to Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Delivering vitamins and a Bible story to the beautiful people of
Xepatul, Guatemala,
on my first trip there in 2000

I want them to know that God loves them and that God has a plan. His love is deeper than the deepest oceans and is theirs for the taking. I want them to know that the same God who numbered the stars calls them, His children, by name. I pray that they have a Miss Turner, Mrs. Rydell, Mr. Art Teacher Whose Name I Forgot (gasp!) encouraging their gifts and talents and acting as the hands of Christ in their lives. They deserve it. I want them to know that they are our Creator's masterpieces, exquisitely crafted and worthy of His best. Through Compassion, they have these opportunities. I treasure the letters and photos we receive from them.  My spirits are buoyed by the way I see them growing in their relationships with Christ. The updates we receive from their pastors and the directors of their schools reiterate the fact that Compassion changes lives.

Oh, and guess what?  I'm finally writing again.  This time, as a Compassion Blogger working to find sponsors for as many children as possible.  What you are reading right now is one of those blogs.

 

God has a plan.

 

He is still at work, and He isn't finished with me yet.

He isn't finished with you yet.

And He is just beginning His work in these children.

YOU can be a part of the hope and future of these children! Please share this post and click on the icon or link to become a Compassion International sponsor today!

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm?referer=133388