Have you heard? It’s Blog Month at Compassion and now it’s Pinterest for Compassion, too!

We all love Pinterest, don’t we? Getting lost in the hours of recipes and crafts and fun decor! And now there’s a contest where you can not only have fun on Pinterest but also help children get sponsors through Compassion International!

We’re halfway into Blog Month and so far 1,515 children in poverty have been sponsored. Now there’s just 1, 593 more to go!

I had the opportunity to meet my Compassion child last year when I went to Burkina Faso, West Africa on a mission trip. What an experience! But you know, visiting your child isn’t necessary to show them the love of Jesus and your love. Your letters matter just as much.

Only a few weeks ago another team from my church went to Burkina Faso, West Africa. While walking through the village one day this girl came up to a friend of mine holding a picture of my husband and me. She was asking my friend if she knew me. Even I wondered if my letters truly mattered, but when I received the picture below with my friend, our Compassion child, and the picture I sent her, I knew that my letters matter more than I ever thought!

Will you help find other children sponsors by participating in the Compassion Pinterest Contest?

Read all the details at My Sponsored Child Pinterest Contest.

Not a sponsor? Please consider sponsoring a child, and if that’s not possible, then repin my Pin It! Compassion Pin by going to my Pinterest board “My Sponsored Child”.

Thank you for helping to make a difference in the lives of the children! From someone who’s experienced Compassion firsthand, I can tell you that your sponsorship and support really do matter! 

Tell me, will you repin the Compassion pin on Pinterest to help spread the word? 

Driving to church yesterday morning I said to my husband, “You know, it seems like the closer I get to Jesus the more wretched I realize I am”. From the outside it looks like my life is gift wrapped in a sweet white box with a pretty, red satin bow. This box is what stops an unbeliever, someone who doesn’t believe they can be used by God, from looking inside.

For an unbeliever it looks so easy for someone like me to believe and follow Jesus.

Yes, I was single for a long time and pretty much cried through every moment of it, but now I’m married.

And sure my husband had a very dramatic heart transplant two years ago, but he lived, and now we’re having a baby.

No, I don’t have any addictions that invaded my life and tried to destroy me.

My life looks like it’s been perfectly gift wrapped, and a gift wrapped life makes it much easier to believe that there’s a God who can use you than a life that’s scattered about with no direction.

Even I think this way about others.

Every morning I turn on my computer to blog posts and Facebook updates showing me a lot of gift wrapped lives. Then I think to myself, “Well of course she’s successful or has a perfect marriage and good kids and a flourishing ministry. Her parents were missionaries, she went to Bible college, and now her husband’s a pastor.”

I, too, am an unbeliever. I don’t believe that my life can ever resemble such “goodness” because it’s not gift wrapped as neatly as theirs.

This is what stops an unbeliever from moving forward. 

But what we don’t see is what is on the inside. We don’t bother to lift the lid on that perfectly wrapped box and take a peak into the battles that take place deep inside.

They are the battles of the soul.

I think that when a woman’s heart gets pricked by Jesus for the first time the enemy’s first defense is to swoop in and persuade her to look around and compare herself to all the pretty, red satin bows she sees. Then he tells her that she could never be worthy enough of someone like Jesus because she used to do or still does x, y, and z.

What she doesn’t know is that once upon a time, before I was close to Jesus, I had my own set of x, y, and z’s. But those are the things that He changed first, and that’s why you no longer see them.

As a woman’s heart changes usually the outside behaviors are the first to change, too. You no longer cuss or party or go out with the bad boys. Your life gets put in a box, and the past becomes a secret for you to open to only those who you want to see inside.

But it’s the soul stuff that takes a lot longer to change. This is the stuff inside the box like pride and envy and laziness and malice. It’s the stuff that is easy to hide from most people. It’s the stuff that Jesus usually takes a lifetime to change so that we learn to rely on Him. 

What stops an unbeliever is not believing that everyone has an inside to their box, and God uses them despite of it.

Today’s Challenge: See if you are looking around at everyone else’s “boxes” and believing that you can’t be used by God because yours isn’t as neatly packaged. Ask God to protect you from this lie and show you that you can be used by Him regardless of what your life has been like.  

Have you ever struggled with thinking you cannot be used by God because of your past? 

My new eBook, Fall for Him,  was written from believing that I could be used by God. And not just the parts of me tied up nicely with a bow – all of me.  The book will be released in October, so sign up for email updates so that you don’t miss any of the details! Also, download a chapter overview here and look for a free chapter coming soon!

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Linked with this week:

Miscellany Mondays

Hear It, Use It

The Better Mom

 

 

This month is Blog Month at Compassion, and I am participating by sharing my stories about child sponsorship.

Have you ever truly questioned how you could make a difference to a child thousands of miles away? If so, then my story today is for you. I am writing a letter to God, really asking Him for forgiveness, for ever questioning the difference not that I make, but that He is able to make through me.

Please consider becoming a child sponsor. I had the opportunity to see my sponsored child face-to-face, and I can assure you, your sponsorship does make a difference.

Dear God,

It’s been almost a year since you sent me on that trip to Burkina Faso, West Africa where she lives. I was scared to death to go, and even though I cried and begged you not to send me you wanted me to be there anyway.

Months before when I sat on that sofa at church looking through hundreds of pictures of children who need you desperately, I never knew that the child I finally landed on would teach me so much about you. I knew I wanted to sponsor a girl, and I knew I wanted her to be older. It seems like everyone wants the little kids, but I wanted someone who I could at least help for a few more years.

There she was. She was beautiful.

That day in Burkina, it was the Thursday of our trip, I waited to meet her at the Compassion site where she attends. She had a big test, and I didn’t know if I would get to meet her at all. Finally they went to get her on the moped. When she drove up I could no longer hold back the tears. I cried. The picture of the girl was now in front of me.

It was hard for us to talk. I gave her some things that I had brought for her including a hot pink t-shirt. She barely smiled. I didn’t know what she was thinking.

The next night as I walked through the village with our team, I felt a tap on my shoulder. There she was –  wearing the hot pink t-shirt.

Few events in life does a person think about every. single. day. literally. for months on end. Maybe tragedies or something traumatic.

But everyday this child comes to my mind. And everyday I wonder if I really make a difference.

You’ve prompted my heart to write her, and for some reason I have not been faithful. I don’t know why. I guess it’s easy to think that there’s now over 5000 miles between us and many days since we met, so what difference is one letter going to make?

Maybe it’s simple laziness or self-consumption. I don’t know.

Your voice was not enough for me, though. You knew there would need to be more to convince me that my letters do matter, and fortunately you did not let me get away with whatever the reason I didn’t write. 

So you sent my Compassion child back to me – in a picture that my friend took just a few weeks ago.

My friend was in Burkina Faso on a short-term mission trip just like the one I took back in November. As she walked through the village a girl came up to her with a picture in her hand – a picture of me. In the only way she could communicate she held up the picture to ask my friend if she knew me.

My letters do matter, after all, God. She was carrying my picture through her village. 

I am sorry for not being faithful with the gift of writing this child regularly like you told me to do so many times.

I am sorry for making it about me and my influence and for not remembering that it is not me at all. It is what you do through me.

I am sorry for not simply being an outpoured vessel to bring hope to a young girl who needs you so desperately.

God, my letters matter not because they are written from my hand, but because they are written from yours.

Thank you for the opportunity to sponsor this child. Thank you for what she has taught me about you. Please continue to bless my Compassion child by drawing her closer to you through the power of the Holy Spirit. Bless her with good health and safety, too. Protect her from the enemy.

And Lord, hear the cries of all the other children who are waiting for sponsors. Please speak to each person who reads this story and show her what you want her to do to help.

Thank you, Jesus, for my child. 

Have you ever considered sponsoring a child through Compassion? What questions do you have? If you do sponsor a child, what can you tell us about sponsorship?

Interested in sponsoring a child? Click here: Sponsor a Child

 

For a twenty-nine year old single woman community feels the same as it does when you’re fourteen. You go to school and wonder which group you’ll fit in on that day. You contemplate what’s wrong with you besides the less than clear complexion. And you wonder what it is you really are supposed to do with your life.

At least that’s how it was for me.

I didn’t fit in at the couple’s dinner party or my friend’s kid’s first birthday or even the women’s Bible study.

I read every self-help book trying to figure out what could possibly be so wrong that I wasn’t married already.

I looked for my “calling” incessantly since what I thought it would be turned out to not be so.

The bottom line? I was starved. Starved for community and starved for myself.

In the middle of my struggle to fit in as a single woman, there was one woman at my church who decided to come alongside me.

There are all types of community. Most are the types where all of the participants just “click”. You get each other. You share similar interests. You walk similar paths in life.

That was not the type of community I had with this woman, though.

She was about six years older than me, married, with two children living in a suburban-like house with a big backyard. She was living my dream.

But for some reason she invited me over for dinner.

Her husband traveled periodically, and when he did she would invite me to her house to have dinner with her and her two girls. Then after they went to bed we would watch a movie.

It was nothing earth-shattering. It was easy and simple and quick.

But for me it showed that I wasn’t different.

The woman saw me as a friend even though our worlds were light years apart. She served the deepest part of my soul – the part that needed to know that I was o.k.

She showed me community. 

We like community that is easy. We like community when we’re all the same, living the same life, and have the same outcomes.

But is that the kind of community Jesus sought after? Or did He search for a community that was hard, uncomfortable, where He didn’t fit in, maybe even where He was misunderstood? Just so He could serve others who might need Him. 

Over at Incourage this week we are discussing the question “What does community mean to you?” I will be the first to admit that I like community when it’s easy, and I don’t have to work at it.

But when I think about community I think about the woman who invited me over for dinner and a movie even if we may not have anything to talk about.

To me that is community. Serving someone else when it’s not easy.

Today’s Challenge: Find someone to serve in community even if it’s not easy. 

 Share with us. What does community mean to you?

Today I am linked up with: Incourage

 

And did you hear? 31 Days of Peace-Filled Singleness is now an eBook being released in October! Sign up for email updates so that you don’t miss any of the details including a chapter overview and a free chapter you can download!

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Have you been still lately? Hushed? Subdued? Soft? Free from disturbance? 

Do you ever hear God saying to you, “Be still”?

Do you tell yourself that you are too busy or worn out to listen?

In Lisa Chan‘s devotional film called “Be Still” she asks us these questions.

Lisa Chan is the wife of Francis Chan, the well-known pastor, speaker, and author of several books including Crazy Love, Forgotten God, and Erasing Hell. She is also a mother to five children and a singer who has recorded three albums. Lisa’s latest endeavor is creating a devotional film series called “True Beauty“.

I had the opportunity to view Lisa’s first film in the series, “Be Still“, where she explores the truth that we have the same accessibility to Jesus that we would have if He was physically in our presence. The only requirement? To be still before Him daily, sitting at His feet, taking in who He is.

As women, we are all haunted by the demands of this world whether it be through our own perfectionism or others’ unrealistic expectations. We find ourselves burdened, tired, and overwhelmed. “Be Still” gives us a fresh perspective of what is better (Luke 10:42).

In this 23 minute film, Lisa uses her story and the story of a woman who was crushed by the revelation that her husband was leaving her for another woman to explain that it is not that we do not  have enough time or energy to be still before Jesus. It is just that our time and energy are being sucked up by the distractions in this world that hold no eternal significance. 

“Be Still” is perfect for your women’s small group, community group, Sunday school class, or Bible study. The length of the film allows for plenty of time for viewing and then small group discussion. At the same time, it is rich with spiritual truths and scripture, and it is engaging and thought-provoking.

No matter what age group or women’s ministry you are involved in, I highly recommend Lisa’s devotional film series.

Preview a snippet of the film below, and recommend it to your women’s ministry director or the pastoral leadership at your church or simply purchase it for yourself and your personal group. You can buy a copy here. 

Want to win your own copy of “Be Still” to watch yourself and share with small group?

Enter the giveaway for one free copy of Lisa Chan’s devotional film “Be Still“!  

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Share with us. Do you hear God telling you to “Be Still”? Do you struggle with being still before Him? 

 

My body distortions were there as early as I can remember.

I loved playing Barbies back then. Any time I got some birthday money I went to the store to buy the latest cowboy Barbie or career-girl Barbie. My collection grew to about twenty or so.

My favorite Christmas was the year I got the Dream House for all of them to live in. That year I also got the camper and corvette and pool. It was my own dynasty of glitz and glamour. So began one distortion.

The other began a few years later. Sitting on the stairs as a ten year old girl I announced to my mom that I was only going to eat an apple for lunch from then on.

My body was a little too pudgy, so I thought.

Upstairs in my bedroom I passed this curse on to my Barbies. You know the ones walking around with perfect 36-18-33 bodies? I decided that they, too, needed to eat an apple for lunch. And then run around the Dream House until they could no longer run.

In the coming years controlling my pudginess became a part of my identity. I was the one blessed with a short torso and short legs.

When I tried controlling my growing hips and thighs in more radical ways than just eating an apple for lunch, I knew there was a problem.

The doctors told me that the body I saw in the mirror wasn’t real. I had body distortions.

But it was real to me. Other people were the ones with the distortions.

Many years later I began carrying my first baby. My baby girl. Even though I always wanted a baby of my own, one of the fears was those hips and thighs I had finally whipped under control.

I was terrified of losing control again. I was terrified of gaining weight.

Fortunately, though, I did, and evidence of my baby girl began showing from the inside poking out.

One day as I nested for her arrival I cleaned out some pictures of myself from not too long before. Looking at them I couldn’t believe the first words in my mind, “Wow, I was so skinny!”

Skinny? There’s a word I have never used to describe myself.

Then I walked into our bedroom and saw my bridal portrait hanging on the wall. I have purposely walked into the room before without looking at it because my arms were too big that day. Now my arms looked skinny, too.

For years my body distortions were not distortions at all. They were my reality.

Then, through pregnancy, I finally saw them for what they were – imagined pictures in my mind.

I saw myself from the eyes of Jesus.

Each of us has distortions that show us a make-believe reality. They may be distortions of our bodies or of our worth or of our identity. They may be distortions of the life we think we’re supposed to have or what will make us happy. They may be distortions of what is best for us.

These distortions keep us from truly believing our worth to Jesus. They make us see something that’s not real, and the more we see this way the further we grow away from how He truly feels about us and what He want to do through us.

Today’s Challenge: Ask God to show you the distortions in your life. Pray that you no longer see them as an untrue reality. 

What distortions in your life have you believed as reality and then later you saw them for what they were?