Say It Enough, You'll Start to Believe It
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We went live yesterday over at Kelli Stuart.com and I could not be more pleased with how it all came together. A big thanks to Alle McCloskey of Finding Eden Media for the hard work she put in to make that site everything I had envisioned it to be. It really is a beautiful space.
Please?
I’ve procrastinated writing this post. I don’t really know what to say that I haven’t already said. I’ve contemplated a million different ways to wrap up this blog that has been such a joy to write, but none of them felt right.
So I ate a little chocolate and hummed this Boyz II Men song softly as I’ve made my way through my morning.
I find it somewhat apropos that I am writing this final post with my sick daughter laying next to me on the couch. I started this blog a little over six years ago as a means to document this crazy thing called motherhood. When I wrote my first post, I had a 4 year old, a 23 month old and a newborn. I was tired, I was overwhelmed, and I thought that my life would be tantrums and poopy diapers from the rest of all time.
I never thought I’d have a career.
I never thought I’d have the opportunity to travel and develop as a writer and creator.
I assumed myself unambitious, not knowing that I was simply hard wired to thrive on inspiration.
I didn’t know all the ways that blogging would enrich my life as a mother and a wife.
Honestly, when I first started, I thought blogging sounded stupid. Write about daily life? WHO WOULD CARE TO READ THAT!
Here we are six years later. Life is still funny, and a bit surprising. I’m still doing my best to raise these children without inadvertently pushing one of them to write a scathing “Mommy Dearest” memoir. Although this morning I did drag my wrestling and crying six year old out of the house and place him firmly on the school bus much against his will, which should give him at least a chapter’s worth of material to share with the world someday.
Yay me…
It’s also a fitting symbol that my minivan, the one we purchased just a couple of months before I started this blog, is dying a slow and pitiful death. It won’t be long before she will need to be replaced by something…newer. Not better (still a minivan, yo!), but different. A fresh start to drive us both literally and figuratively into the future.
It’s like my entire life has become a symbol!
The new website will be a chance for to continue to expand and grow as a writer, as a wife and a mother, as someone who never wants to grow stagnant in life. There is so much still to see and do. So many opportunities to use the gifts and talents I’ve been loaned to bless and encourage others. Perhaps the biggest lesson this blog has taught me is that this life is so much more fun when it’s lived in service to others.
It’s not about me, and I would never want it to be.
So today will be the final post here on Minivans Are Hot. I shall drive my minivan into that goodnight, and when the sun rises I’ll find myself on a new path. Still in a minivan (hawt!), and with plenty of blog fodder to come.
Ugh…that sounds so cheesy, doesn’t it?
In an effort to wrap this up, I’ve decided to share my Top Two favorite posts from each year I’ve blogged, and I’m hoping you’ll appreciate how difficult it was to choose only two posts from each year!
2008
Literal Art and the Worst Toy Ever Created – In which my husband made a massive Daddy faux pas.
The Same, But Different – In which my husband bludgeoned a possum to death with a crowbar.
2009
The Master Cleanse: A Review – We tried The Master Cleanse. We failed miserably.
Can I Just Go Back to Bed? – The Haircut Heard ‘Round the World.
2010
Boy and Girl and a Cricket Makes Three – When sharing my love story with Lee, I mentioned the time a voyeuristic cricket had his way with me.
The Day we Spent $127 on Soap – Because Lee and I are dorks and can’t add.
2011
The Debate of Our Generation – The one where we try REALLY HARD to convince you that minivans are hot.
Don’t Go Disrespectin’ – Don’t mess with a mom in a minivan.
2012 – (I couldn’t choose two from this year – it was my favorite blogging year)
Hope is Slow – This post from Tanzania was a life changer for me. It’s still impacting me today.
Rise of the Planet of the Blue Monkeys – An open lunch box in the Tanzanian wild is a bad idea. Bad, bad, BAD idea…
It’s Like He Doesn’t Know Me At All – The day my husband dissed Target and invoked the wrath of the internet.
2013
Mom of the Year: Not Looking Good – In which I sent Landon to school in pants caked with Nutella, and I forfeited my Mother of the Year title.
A Bridge Between Here and There – I responded to my friend Shaun’s post and invoked the dreaded ‘S’ word. *gasp*
2014
Tenting with Shamoo – We went camping. In January. That is all.
Exposing the Real Issues in Sochi – This was an important post to me. I’m so thankful it got the traffic it did.
One of the great privileges this blog has brought me has been the opportunity to work with great brands that I love. I have been very, very, VERY picky and selective over the years in who I work with, what kinds of posts I write for companies, and how often I write a promotional post. I’m glad that one of my final posts on this website will be for a brand that I know and love.
Disney. Who doesn’t love Disney, right?!
Living in Florida has a lot of perks, one of them being our proximity to the Disney parks. The truth is, I can only take so much of a theme park in one day. After a few hours, I’m usually done feeling magical, which means living nearby is nice because we can pop in for a quick visit, hit up the attractions we enjoy the most, and leave before major melt downs occur.
That is what we call “Winning.”
Last year I had the honor of being invited to the Disney Social Media Moms event, where I learned so much more than I thought I would. I went to the event with a little bit of trepidation because I thought it would be all MAGIC and FAIRIES and LOOK AT DISNEY FROM EVERY ANGLE!
Even grown ups (especially grown ups?) enjoy showing off their Disney Side.
It was none of that. I left encouraged, inspired, and with the germ of an idea to start a new website. Fast forward ten months, and that germ of an idea is about to take root.
A few months ago, I was selected to take part in Disney’s new at home Disney Side Celebrations. I didn’t really know what this meant until a large box showed up at my door with a beautiful plum-colored American Tourister suitcase filled to the brim with Disney product.
Nobody does magic like Disney, eh?
A friend made Tia this super cute Frozen-inspired leotard with snowflakes all over it and “Let It Go” across the top. It is her new favorite.
The idea was to have a party in my home in which I, along with my kids and their friends, could show off my Disney Side. This posed a slight problem in that we had already hosted several home parties over the last few months, and I wasn’t really prepared for another one. I did, however, have Tia’s 8th birthday party planned at her gym, so I took my one stone and flung it at both birds.
(Do you love how I used that totally cliche’ figure of speech? Wasn’t that fun?)
I brought the Disney cups, and plates, the tattoos and games and spread them out on the table, and laughed when not only the kids, but also the adults started ooh’ing and aah’ing over the goodies. Disney brings magic in so many ways.
For the kids, the magic is in the now. The songs, the colors, the lights and characters that come to life.
For the adults, it’s in the nostalgia. Everything is new, and yet it is just as it was when we were young, and the early versions of ourselves get to fly again through the power of imagination.
As commercial as Disney may seem to some, for me it holds just the right amount of nostalgia and magic to bring out my own Disney Side. It must be all the fairy dust they sprinkle around the parks.
*wink*
Disclaimer: I was asked to be a part of the Disney Side at home celebrations, and Disney provided me with all the product necessary to throw a party. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.
I took a walk this morning because I live in Florida and February in Florida is a little slice of heaven. Cool in the mornings. Hot in the afternoons. Each day begs to be enjoyed, to be taken in and relished.
So I relished.
I’m preparing to launch my new website next week. That will mean the official end of this website, and no kidding, I get emotional just thinking about it. I started going over my final post in my head today and got all misty-eyed, which made me want to eat Nutella in an effort to self-soothe.
Nutella is more than liquid crack. It is medication for the soul.
Amen.
I’ve seen several ads on Facebook this last month for a website called My Social Book, which takes all your Facebook activity in the course of a year and compiles it into a book. I’ve ordered two of the books so far, and I have to say I LOVE them. It’s like having a yearbook for each year I spent on Facebook. All the funny status updates, comments, birthday wishes and photos shared are bound together, and it left me misty-eyed.
Pregnancy hormones are no joke, you guys.
The Social Book from my first year on Facebook really gave me a bit of nostalgia for my blogging days of yore. The days when I had a plethora of hysterical stories to share of life parenting surviving young children. I miss telling those funny stories. Thank goodness we’re having another baby because BLOG FODDER!
My voice won’t change in the new site, but I am looking forward to the inspiration that comes with a fresh slate. Perhaps I will write less frequently, and most of the funny stories I have on the kids will have to be kept to myself, but there will still be plenty of life to share, plenty of laughs to laugh, and a lot of inspiration to soak in.
I’m excited. And I’m sad. I’m conflicted.
I want Nutella.
Here are a few photos from my morning walk. I sincerely hope you appreciate the close up of the bumble bee, because I had to get right on top of him to get that shot, and I am terrified of bees. I imagine that any neighbor who saw me taking these pictures must have assumed me crazy because I jumped and leaped and yelped every time a bee left his perch and flew at me. I was like the bee paparazzi, and they seemed entirely put out by me.
Happy Wednesday, everyone! I’ll see you tomorrow and Friday, and next week we’ll roll out the red carpet in a new place.
Sad Panda
Happy Dance
I’M IN A GLASS CASE OF EMOTION!
This photo embodies the carefree nature of childhood. That we could all be so free…
Friends, I’m afraid my time on this blog is drawing to a close. It hurts my heart to write those words, it really does. It’s so bittersweet for me to think of moving on, but the truth is, this blogging journey is evolving for me, and I’m slowly allowing myself to be okay with that.
I’m not done yet. I have a few more posts set up for this space in the next couple of weeks, then it will be time to officially say goodbye. That’s the bad news. The good news?
I’m not leaving the internet. Oh heavens, no. I like it too much here to walk away. But life has changed, I’ve changed, and honestly…I’m kind of tired of the race.
I wish that I was leaving this site on the top of my game. Not too many months ago, I had thousands of people visiting each week, and I enjoyed writing and sharing my life with everyone. Then, life got hard and something changed. People didn’t want to stay around and read the hard things, and I get it – I really do. The title of my blog insists on light-hearted humor, and I broke that rule, and it simply wasn’t fair.
The truth is, I feel like I’ve had a chair at the “big kid’s” blogging table for awhile, but I’ve never quite been able to scoot my way in. I’ve sat on the fringes, knowing the right people, offered amazing opportunities, and yet still I had to fight to be heard, fight to be seen, fight to stay relevant.
I got tired of fighting. That’s not why I started this journey. I started because I wanted to share the journey of motherhood with others who would laugh at with me. Motherhood is hard, especially when the kids are young and you are literally crawling through crap most of your days. Young mothers, hear me on this: YOU MUST LAUGH THROUGH THESE DAYS!
It is imperative that when you walk into your child’s room and find poop smeared on the wall, that you throw your head back and laugh. Trust me, the journey will be so much more fun if you do.
I loved writing those posts, but I can’t do it anymore. I cannot tell my kid’s stories, because…well, I just can’t. And really, the title of my blog dictates that I continue to tell these humorous stories of motherhood, but to do so would be to compromise my children’s trust in me, and I’m not willing to do that.
So I’m winding down, and I’m preparing to launch Kelli Stuart.com. The way that I write will likely not change there. I still love to laugh, and every opportunity that I can do so, I will. But I’ll feel less encumbered by the title of my blog, and I feel like I’ll have more freedom to share this place that the Lord has led me to:
A place where I’m motived by the inspiration of the world around me. A place where I get back to my first love, and the dreams I held as a wide-eyed college graduate – writing books. I traded that love for blogging some time ago, and while I don’t for one second regret the journey I’ve taken these last six years, I do feel like it’s time to move forward in my craft.
My friend Myquillin wrote a beautiful post today in which she processes her return home after a second trip to Africa with Compassion International.
“Dance in your kitchen.
Do your thing well.
Share what you have.”
Nester writes these words, and they stir in my soul. I haven’t been dancing in this space of mine. I’ve been trying so hard just to keep up, to be noticed by those sitting around the “big” table, and somewhere along the way I got tired. I’m sorry for that.
I don’t feel like I can dance here anymore. All I’ve got is a hobble. But can I share where I have been dancing?
Yesterday I wrote the first three pages of my second novel. My first novel is in the hands of an editor, and my heart hopes and prays it will be picked up for publication by the end of this year. Words make my soul dance, and stories give me song. In my new space, I will continue to let the words dance, and I’ll do so less encumbered by the title of the site, and more free to dance in the inspiration that moves me.
This isn’t my official goodbye. I have a few more words left to document here. But I’m getting close, and as I do I feel a dance coming on. I do so hope you’ll join me there.
Blessings, my friends.
2013 will be marked down as the year I’d rather pretend never happened. The year in which I was mostly unimpressed. The year full of ridiculous, undeserved blessings. The year of very low, lows, and very high, highs. The unresolved year.
The year I killed my blog?
It got heavy around here this year, didn’t it?
Then I got a little tired.
There are some changes coming down the pipeline for 2014. There’s a plan that’s being very slowly set into motion as I draw the veil on this year. I hope that these changes will bring an added shimmer to 2014, a year into which I walk with much more peace, a remnant of sadness, and a lot of inspiration. I have ideas – lots of ideas – and I’m excited to begin implementing them.
In the meantime, I want you to know that I am thankful for you all. You have been a dear, sweet community not just this year, but over the last six years. We’ve laughed a lot, cried a little, traveled to Africa, and helped change the world.
I’m not finished as a blogger, but as we head into Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year, I am focusing a little more time on being a writer. It’s very difficult to maintain this blogging bit when all of life feels like it’s taking off in a different direction and you can’t share it, and your brain is all YOU HAVE TO SHARE ALL THE THINGS OR PEOPLE WILL LEAVE, and your heart constricts and says SOME OF THE THINGS DON’T NEED TO BE SHARED!
Then your fingers quit working because your heart and your brain can’t agree, and instead you end up roaming the house talking to yourself because you need to say all the things out loud.
Then you try to write a post about it, and you confuse everyone.
I’m still living in the land of crazy, my friends. I have a few announcements to make in the coming weeks, and I’ll be posting less frequently as I ramp up for 2014. In the meantime, know that I’m thankful for all of you.
*Hugs*
I hardly remember how life existed before Facebook. How did I survive the hilarious moments of the day or stressful World Series games without my funny friends laughing alongside me?! I love my little online community…but sometimes I love it a little too much. I need a break from the world of the internet.
Plus, I’m kind of curious to see what will happen if I stay off of Facebook for awhile. If I stop posting, will the world stop spinning? Will life go on?!
I’m taking a week off of blogging and Facebook. I am a weak creature indeed, so I’ve deleted the Facebook app off of my phone, and I am turning off all notification so that I can stand firm on my resolve to stay away. I will still be checking email, working on my book and doing some editing work, but the vast majority of my days will be spent looking up and around instead of down at my screen. I’ll let you know next week if life truly does exist outside of the internet.
In the meantime, if you didn’t have a chance to read my 31 Day series on becoming an author, I’d love for you to check it out. I loved writing this series. It was stimulating and exciting, and it reminded why I love this business of writing so very much.
So, friends – I’m off to take a walk, and I will leave my phone behind. What?! Walking without my phone?! What is that all about?!
I’ll see you all in a week! Wish me luck. *wink*
UPDATE: When I set out to write this series of posts, I NEVER imagined it would be as popular as it has become. But in the almost year since I published this series, it’s gotten consistent traffic, and remains my highest trafficked post via Pinterest to date. So…
No, that’s not a typo – The book is a 30 Day Guide, not 31 Day Guide. I condensed the material into readable chapters, and organized it in a way that gives readers a comprehensive guide to writing and publishing in an easily digestible format.
I will be removing the posts from this space in an effort to preserve the integrity of the book, but as soon as the book goes live, I will include the link where you can purchase these posts for your online library.
My hope and desire it that people will be inspired to continue to create, to write, and ultimately, to author the words that float in their heads and hearts. I’m so honored to have you all on this journey with me. I hope that you will benefit in your career as a writer from the tips offered in 30 Days to Becoming an Author. For more information on the book, and for more Pinterest-worthy images to promote it, go to KelliStuart.com.
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*Ask and Ye Shall Receive! Several people asked me if they could subscribe to the blog to have it delivered to email and I finally figured out how to do that! (And by “figured out” I mean that I had someone set it up for me.) Enter your email in the box to the left to have posts sent straight to your inbox.
Yay technology! And Yay people who know how to use it better than I do!
Carry on, then…
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I am not a planner. I’m not really sure how it is that the personality cards fell as they did given that my mom is a planner times fifteen. She plans when she’s going to plan. It’s something to behold.
I’m assuming I got the fly-by-my-seatedness from my dad. Maybe? Dad, am I right?
(I’m pretty sure I’m right.)
Because I generally tend not to plan very far in advance, I always feel like I should get some sort of recognition or medal on the rare occasions when I am super prepared. Those moments are few and far between and quite frankly, I find it exhausting to organize for the future. It’s a wonder I get anything done at all.
I have been in a noticeable blogging funk lately. The blogging world has evolved and changed quite a bit in the last five years. People want their information faster, shorter, and much more visually than they did before. Niche blogs are the focus right now – Foodies, decorators, DIY-ers, and coupon-ers. Blogs that offer a short burst of information, helpful to every day life, and complete with pretty pictures are what the masses want when they open their computers.
This year, between fighting depression, finishing my novel, editing my novel and now pitching my novel, I haven’t really been able to fuel the flame of successful blogging – particularly because I’m one of the story tellers who feels like she’s swimming outside the niche.
(SIDE NOTE: I’d like someone to create a band and name it Swimming Outside the Niche. Then make really cool, funky jazz with just a hint of coffee shop flare. And if you do, please send me one of your CD’s for free. Thankyouverymuch.)
Alright, so where am I headed with all this? For the past three years, my friend Myquilin, better known as The Nester, has done a 31 Days challenge. The idea is to stretch yourself and write one post a day throughout October on one topic.
I tried to do this last year, but I literally decided to jump in on October 1 without any clue of what I would write about. (Please reference the opening paragraph regarding my lack of planning ahead.)
Needless to say, I didn’t do a great job. My topic was difficult to define, a bit ambiguous, and I had no idea how to generate 31 posts out of it. By the end of the month, I chalked myself up as a failing 31 Day writer.
But time heals all failures, and it’s another year so I’m going after it again, and do you know what I did last night?
Someone give me a medal, quick!
Now for some, I fear my topic may be a little dry. You might not be interested, but I hope you’ll still follow along because I think you’ll enjoy learning the ins and outs and tricks of the trade I plan to share. What is the topic?
At first I worried that it would be pretentious of me to write an entire series on becoming an author, but then I quit shaming myself for the skills and experience I’ve gathered on this topic and embraced the fact that I am indeed qualified to write these posts.
So write them I will, and I am ridiculously excited to do so. At this point in my blogging, I need something a little more concrete to write about. I need to focus less on trying to think of funny stories, and more about the business and art of creating story (although plenty of humor will be thrown in, because you know I can’t help myself…). I would love it if you’d follow along as we cover such topics as:
– What makes a writer a writer? And what makes a writer an author?
– Writing with Purpose
– The Mechanics of Fiction
– The Mechanics of Non-Fiction
– Character Development
– Setting Fees
– What To Do When You Hit the Inevitable Plateau
And there will be so much more. We’ll cover how to find an agent and how to find a publisher, manuscript lengths, and how to write a book proposal that publishers will want to read.
I was at this writing gig long before blogging became popular. Before I finished my own novel, I helped others develop and sell their novels. I’ve written book proposals that sold, and book proposals that got thrown into the mush pile because they stunk. I’ve ghost-written several books and co-authored a book, and I made countless mistakes along the way.
I love writing, and I love to see others reach their dreams of publication. So for 31 Days, we’re going to explore this topic together.
Well, what do you know…I think I just found my niche.
I’ll link up each 31 Day post as I put them up. I reserve full rights to change, edit or move these posts around because there’s a solid chance I’ll have to do that!
The Mechanics of Great Non-Fiction
The Mechanics of Great Fiction
Character Development: Creating Layered Characters
Come and Ride the Grammar Train
When You Hit the Inevitable Plateau
What if I Write and No One Reads?
A Writer is a Reader who Reads all the Books
The Art of Being Published in a Cut Throat World
Communities to Enhance Your Writing
Write for Yourself…And Also for Them
My sister-in-law, Becke’, frequently shares posts detailing some of her favorite things, so today I am going to follow her lead and share a few of my favorite things with you.
Because I know you’re dying to know about the things I love!
So without further ado:
1.) VIVO Per Lei facial products – Don’t they just sound fancy? A few months ago, I ran into the mall to pick up a couple of things, and as I walked by one of the center kiosks, a man pulled me aside. Now, normally I don’t stop when those people try to sell me things, but when someone with a romantic Italian accent says, “Excuse me? You are very beautiful. Can I show you a product that I think will further enhance your beauty?” IT’S HARD NOT TO STOP!
So I let him give me his pitch and show me his products and I tried to walk away because, as we all know, I have a mild major addiction to skin care products and being in close proximity to products made with Dead Sea Minerals was sending me into a dangerous downward spin of desire! Seeing that I was about to walk away empty handed, the handsome Italian, who also happens to be the owner of the company, handed me the soap and told me to try it for free.
“Tell me about yourself,” he said as he massaged lotion into my hand. I mentioned my book, and told him where it was set, and my friends do you know what happened?! That handsome Italian started speaking to me in Russian. I can’t make this stuff up. I hadn’t heard Russian in months and suddenly an Italian, raised in Germany and Israel, facial-ist to the stars, is speaking Russian to me in the middle of a mall in Tampa, Florida.
Y’all this stuff is amazing! It’s so amazing, I just wrote the word y’all! Do you hear the seriousness inside my voice?!
Thank you to my new Russian speaking Italian friend for introducing it to me. Visit the website to check out his products. They are some of the best I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried a LOT. All the products are made with Dead Sea Minerals in Israel, which means they’re holy, right? I say right.
2.) My Macbook Air. Penny. I love her, and that is all.
3.) Wyler’s Chicken Noodle Soup starters. Random? Yes. But for a girl who doesn’t love to cook, I adore a meal that I can throw together in less than an hour and that all five people in my house will eat without complaint. Glory!
4.)We bought a Papasan chair from Pier 1 Imports a few weeks ago and it has become the most coveted seat in the house. We fight over it daily. In fact, I think it might have some magical powers, because my children all want to sit in it and read. My children who do not like to read. Magic, indeed.
5.) I bit the bullet and bought the Insanity program a couple of weeks ago. Now, confession – I do not love the workouts. They make me think, and sometimes say out loud, bad words. Plus, Shaun T keeps telling me to find my core and I want to scream at the TV, “I can’t! It disappeared when the third baby was born!”
These workouts are hard in an I-want-to-punch-someone-in-the-face sort of way. But I do love that after only a week, I already feel stronger and like I’m getting results. So this one is less love and more love-hate, but it still counts.
6.) Rain. It’s been raining for three straight days now, and while I’m getting slightly annoyed by all the falling water, I must say the sound of it hitting the window is lovely. It makes me want to curl up in the magic Papasan and read a good book.
Okay that’s all! Now I’m off to clean the house read a book in the Papasan. If you have any favorite things you think I should know about, please share in the comments. Particularly if it pertains to skin care products. That’s right – I just asked you to fuel my addiction.
Boom!
Happy Wednesday, y’all!
Photo by Keely Scott
I’m not really sure how to start this post. I want to write something poetic and pure – something that will tug at your heart strings and make your pulse quicken just a bit. I want to paint an image for you that will stir your soul. I’d love to give you a word picture that will cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end.
I want my words to hold just enough weight that you cannot help but jump into action.
I’m simply not that good.
“Poverty is not necessarily an issue to solve; it is an opportunity to serve. As we go through each day, our heart’s cry should be, Lord, where would you have me give, serve, and invest myself to bring hope to the poor?” Johnny Carr, Orphan Justice
I read the book Orphan Justice: How to Care for Orphans Beyond Adopting in March, which to be quite honest was a terrible time to read that book. I was fighting depression and I sobbed like a tiny child through most of the book. It’s a wonderful book, though. I promise it is! I plan on reading it again now that I’m more emotionally stable.
Poverty is a wicked beast. It’s convoluted and tricky and there are no easy solutions to the problem of poverty. In Mark 14:7, Jesus Himself said that the poor would always be among us. As long as this world continues to rotate in its current state, poverty will be an issue among the people. So what do we do with that? If the poor will always be among us, then why even try to solve it?
First, the fight to end extreme poverty is not entirely out of reach. In fact, great strides are being met every single year. Extreme poverty is defined by the U.N. as living on less than $1.25/day. 30 years ago, 52% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. Today that number is estimated at only 26%. So while the poor will always be among us, the extreme poor have much to hope for.
A year and a half ago, I walked among the extreme poor. I held their hands, clapped to their songs and learned that valuable lesson that Hope is Slow. I look back at the photos and remember those days and sometimes feel so desperately trapped inside my own comforts. I want to do more. I want to help. I want my life to be so much more than plush couches, clean clothes and an overflowing pantry.
It’s a desperate thing to feel trapped.
But the chains are loosed when I remember that today, right now, I have the ability to help two. We have added a second sponsored child to our family. A little girl named Lydy from the Philippines. A few weeks ago, we received our first letter, but the letter wasn’t from Lydy. It was from her father, and his words moved both Lee and I to tears:
“We hope and pray that the Lord will continue to prosper your family as you render your good works and reach out to people for Christ…Thank you so much and may God bless you richly!”
Image by Keely Scott
I know I’ve already asked you to consider giving of your resources to another ministry recently. I’m asking you again, today, to consider giving. Perhaps you would like to help fund a new minivan for Mercy House Kenya. Wonderful! No gift is too small. Ten Dollars gets them one step closer to purchasing a vehicle that will allow them to transfer the girls and babies back and for to the doctor, to church, to every day errands. What a gift it would be!
Perhaps you’re ready for a longer commitment and you’d like to sponsor a child through Compassion International. I can speak without faltering when I say that the funds you give in child sponsorship are changing lives. They are building communities, ending hunger, helping eradicate extreme poverty.
Perhaps you already sponsor and would like to do a little more. Please read this post that I wrote in Tanzania about the many different ways you can be involved in Compassion International.
“Poverty is not necessarily an issue to solve; it’s an opportunity to serve.”
What a gift it is to join with a community of givers and serve. Thanks for being a part of this with me.
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