I promise that you will be blessed by this beautiful true story... The Anita Charles Story!
Isn't it such a heart-warming, full circle kind of story? It's stories like this one that remind me anew of why our family sponsors children in need.
Yes, it takes being committed to living simply... in order for us to say "Yes!" to the long-term commitment of child sponsorship...
It means keeping our almost-sixteen-year-old station wagon on the road just a little while longer. It means refraining from eating out whenever we want. It means being careful with those impulsive purchases. It means thinking through our needs versus our wants.... but the blessings far outweigh the "sacrifices"! Notice the quotation marks on the word sacrifice? Friends, we are hardly suffering, nor are we hardly sacrificing... really! We are well-fed, well-clothed, well-housed, well-taken-cared-of!
However, there is one thing that this lifestyle of compassion really hit home for us... we now know what it means to have our hearts broken for the things that break God's heart!
The English noun compassion, meaning to suffer together with, comes from the Latin. Compassion is related in origin, form and meaning to the English noun patient (= one who suffers), and is akin to the Greek verb πάσχειν (= paskhein, to suffer). ~ Source: Wikipedia.
To suffer with... to live a life of compassion...
If your answer is YES, I urge you to start your journey here... go ahead, click on the link and look at those faces staring back at you on the screen... choose one, or two, even three... and pray over them! And ask God what He would have you do and be amazed as He orchestrates a beautiful transformation in your life!
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Friends, today I am linking up with the community over at A Holy Experience on The Practice of Suffering... as a whole community of bloggers Walk with Him and write about a spiritual practice that draws us nearer to God's heart.
I hope that my blog post has encouraged you to let God take you on the same journey that He's taken our family, into child sponsorship with Compassion International.
To stand in solidarity with those who are suffering and in need... to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with God. It's been a stretching, yet fulfilling, journey for our family... one we wouldn't trade for anything!
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, NIV.Jesus embodies compassion for us. He teaches us to look beyond our own desires and to be compassionate towards those in need. He said, “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for. (Matthew 5:7, The Message)"
Right now, one of the ways our family is responding to this call to live a life of compassion is in the form of this... Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy! I recently sat down with Maranatha News for an interview where I tell the story of how this whole thing came to be.
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Friends, as you can see...
Child sponsorship with Compassion International has changed our family's life!
When we started out in this journey of sponsoring children, we did so with the desire to change the lives of these children and their families. Little did we know, God was going to change us in the process too!
It's been a beautiful change... like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Friends, do you want to experience the same transformation?
Friends, as you can see...
Child sponsorship with Compassion International has changed our family's life!
When we started out in this journey of sponsoring children, we did so with the desire to change the lives of these children and their families. Little did we know, God was going to change us in the process too!
It's been a beautiful change... like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Friends, do you want to experience the same transformation?
If your answer is YES, I urge you to start your journey here... go ahead, click on the link and look at those faces staring back at you on the screen... choose one, or two, even three... and pray over them! And ask God what He would have you do and be amazed as He orchestrates a beautiful transformation in your life!
*******************************************
Friends, today I am linking up with the community over at A Holy Experience on The Practice of Suffering... as a whole community of bloggers Walk with Him and write about a spiritual practice that draws us nearer to God's heart.
I hope that my blog post has encouraged you to let God take you on the same journey that He's taken our family, into child sponsorship with Compassion International.
Happy Wednesday, friends!
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
~ 1 Peter 3:8, NIV.
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I promise you will be blessed!
Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.
Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!
I watched and was blessed by Anita's story.Thank you for sharing! Love & prayers, in Jesus, Cynthia
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