When Days Are Particularly Beautiful!

Yesterday was a particularly beautiful day on the Compassion Advocacy front for me! One family received their first Child Letter and I got a message on Facebook from another family letting me know that they've met their Sponsor Child in the Philippines!

Although I wasn't feeling too great... I think I fell asleep with a big smile on my face! :-)

Oh. The. Joy!
I love beautiful days like that!
Don't you?

From the family who met their Sponsor Child...

... we had a wonderful day with our sponsored child. We had her, her mom, and the director come to {where we are}. It was her very first trip {here} and we let her go on some rides for kids at the mall. You should see her face light up with amazement. Thanks for the opportunity to make a difference in a child's life. God bless you...

And the family who received their first Child Letter posted this on Facebook...

‎"The Lord will indeed give what is good." Psalm 85:12
(Our sponsor child's favourite Bible verse)

I love the verse! The Lord does, indeed, give what is good! As a Compassion sponsor and advocate, I've experienced God's goodness over and over again. Oftentimes, when those of us who live in the First World become sponsors... we assume that God's blessings flow one way... via us to our sponsor child and his/her family.

What God has taught me and continues to teach me each day... is that His blessings flow both ways! The children that our family sponsors and writes to have been a tremendous blessing to us... in ways we would've never imagined before!

Through them, we have learned what real faith looks like... and we have become aware of the spiritual poverty that many of us in the First World posses. They have challenged us in our walk with God... grown us in our faith... taught us how to love radically... broken our hearts for the things that break God's heart!     

At yesterday's end, I found my pillow... and I found my book, Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution... he writes the following upon his return to the United States after spending time in the slums of Calcutta... I can so relate {with our family having just gone to the Philippines on a missions immersion trip this past Summer}:

When the worlds of poverty and wealth collide, the resulting powerful fusion can change the world. But that collision rarely happens. I could feel it happening inside of me. One of my punk-rock friends asked me why so many rich people like talking to me, and I said because I'm nice to them. He asked why I was nice to them. I said because I can see myself in them. That gives me a little patience and grace. I long for the Calcutta slums to meet the Chicago suburbs, for lepers to meet landowners and for each to see God's image in the other. It's no wonder that the footsteps of Jesus lead from the tax collectors to the lepers. I truly believe that when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end.

Yesterday, God was gracious enough to allow me to see a glimpse of these two worlds colliding... not just once, but twice! Just. So. Utterly. Beautiful!

Friends, didn't I say it was a beautiful day?

Do you also want to experience the beauty of two worlds colliding?

If so, I urge you to sponsor a Compassion child today!

I promise it's a decision you won't regret making. :-)

Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!