Christmas Letter 2018

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope you enjoyed a merry Christmas with your loved ones. Today, December 26th, I’m finally stealing time from children, chores, and ministry to reflect on 2018.

For our own family and for some of our relatives, there was loss and grief. My husband’s father passed away in January. He was 95 and lived a life that was hard, grief-filled, but faithful to the God he met as a young man. He suffered mental illness but despite that, I heard him quote a line from Scripture he obviously took to heart. Philippians 4:11 “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” His wife died 44 years ago, and their first child, a baby daughter, died at 8 months old. His mother and sister suffered mental illness and he lost them to a mental institution a very long time ago, so his was a lonely life. Though he was not a perfect father, he did his best with the tools a broken world handed him; he improved on the previous generation, securing for my husband and his sister more stability and faith, and even more love, than he had in his own youth. In death he left behind my husband and our children, my husband's sister and her son.

My aunt E, my dad’s sister, lost her husband, D, 76, in September, after 58 years of marriage. My aunt Dorothy, my mom’s sister, lost her husband, R, in later fall, at age 83, after 63 years of marriage. Both men had large families and their lives touched many; both suffered painful deaths from cancer and fought courageously, thinking of the families they were leaving, and the legacies they wanted to bless them with. Their long marriages, their faithfulness to their children and families spoke volumes to the present and coming generations. Please pray for my aunts as they grieve and find strength for new routines, new inspirations. Incidentally, they are good friends, having met in the early 90’s because their mothers were roommates in the same nursing home. Their mothers died a couple days apart, and their husbands two months apart--once again, they are a comfort to each other.

My husband and the kids took trips twice to Pennsylvania to see his Aunt D and Uncle B and Cousin Shawna and her family, meeting up with his sister also, and staying with good friends Jim and his wife in Allentown, PA. A great time was had by all. Peter has struggled psychologically for most of the year and I needed a break from that, so I stayed behind to deal with home repairs and homeschooling paperwork. Peter started a new, safe medicine last month which is for bipolar (though he may or may not have that). The med has been a game changer and an answer to prayer. He still has bad days, just fewer of them.

My house full of children is changing. All are in adolescence and becoming their own people; my job is now about guiding while staying out of God’s way, as he molds them into who He wants them to be, and as He prepares them for the work he has for them. Our church’s high school youth group is offering the teens a week-long mission trip to Costa Rica, encompassing a few hours of morning construction work, followed by running a daily Vacation Bible School for an inner-city church. The emphasis is on the teens running it all, not merely helping the adults. It’s about learning to be leaders, as well as expressing God’s love and mercy.

Imagine the flags that went off in our parental heads at the mention of a Central American country, though Costa Rica is not one of the most dangerous. The mission organization employs armed guards to protect the teens while they work, but nevertheless as a mother I fought hard to come to yes regarding this trip. Something Peter said finally decided it; while I was Googling San Jose, Costa Rica for as much information as I could gather, he commented, “Well, those kids have to live there, so it has to be safe enough for us to visit.” Oh. I can’t tell you how those words hit me. Immediately, I imagined another Christian mother, sitting in Costa Rica, praying. If God saw fit for another mother’s children to live in those conditions, and for her to pray with faith every day for His protection and blessing, I could certainly go out of my comfort zone to share my children’s love and talents, and my prayers, with that faithful mother and her children. I tell other people and my children how big of a God we serve--how powerful and faithful he is--all the time. So how could I say no to an opportunity for God to demonstrate that power in a tangible way? God willing, they are both going.

The drug lords are winning in Central America, corrupting the politicians, the police, crippling the countries, causing significant migration. I know it’s only God’s power that can eclipse the evil. Addiction and trafficking threaten to steal our worth. The message of both is that we are worthless--God’s message is that we are priceless. Our Creator gives us our worth. He, who knit us in the womb and knew us before we were born. He, who thought we were so priceless and beautiful He was willing to give it all for us. I want my children to be part of His message of love and worth. Some problems require a spiritual lead first, not a political one. Without the one, the other will fail.

There were changes in ministry this year. I helped in middle school AWANA for three years, and while that wasn’t my area of giftedness, I did learn to love those kids, after discovering you need to connect one on one. In their mob, they’re less than pleasant, but the true person comes through when you get them away from their peers. 

After the AWANA year closed in May, I asked the AWANA commander for younger kids, and ended up taking a co-director position for the 3rd-5th grade AWANA club in Sept. It was a more ambitious position than I really had time for (the other co-director is burned-out after many decades of ministry), but I didn’t want another year in middle school. I teach most weeks and send out weekly newsletters to parents and volunteers, work individually with kids, and plan reviews. It’s a bit like a part-time job and the books we use change every year for a three-year cycle. But it’s so fulfilling! The kids look up at you with eager faces and hearts, hungry for the teachings of God. Beth is in my club, Mary is in the middle school club, Paul is a verse leader/occasional teacher in my club, and Peter is in his third year as a leader in the preschool club. He loves it. Paul and I both think the 3rd-5th kids are such a blessing. I hope we pour as much love into them as they pour into us.

There have been changes with our Compassion International children; we now have two--one young girl in Uganda and a teen boy in Columbia. We used to have more, but a few moved into areas that Compassion doesn’t serve, one moved out of the program because her family was doing better, and one, sadly, (our first-ever Compassion child, Divya) became a victim of India’s new leader, Modi, who cracked down on Christian ministry in India. In March 2017, Compassion International was forced to pull out of India entirely after 48 years, closing 589 Child Development Centers serving 145,000 of the country’s poorest children. India has since moved to number 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List (annual list of top 50 countries where it’s most dangerous to follow Jesus). In 2017 they were number 15 on the list, and in 2018 they moved to number 11, so it’s very alarming. 

It used to be that outside of North Korea--number 1 on the list for 18 years--that the worst areas for persecution and violence against Christians, and particularly Christian women, were Islamist extremist areas, but now Hindu/ethnic extremists, like Modi, are also a major problem. Please pray for Divya and her family, who we and Compassion no longer have any contact with. She has our personally-written letters, which all Compassion children treat like gold because of the hope and love they contain. She participated not only in vocational, health, and tutoring classes, but in Bible studies before Compassion shut down. Her personal letters to us indicated a relationship with God. Whatever they might do, they can’t take Him.

Now for the kids here at home. Mary is a soulful, passionate child and music is her spiritual language. She loves a lot of Christian music, but the Australian-American band For King and Country produces great content that she adores--and they’re not too bad on the eyes to a 12-year-old girl, either. They sing, do lots of concerts (not near us this year), write their own music, do music videos, and the song/book/movie Priceless, about trafficked women. She hasn’t seen the movie due to mature/emotional content, but when she’s older she will. It’s outstanding. She likes to hear the stories behind every song they’ve written. Each story is compelling. I hope her love for music will inspire her to manage her storm phobia, which is still a very serious problem in her life. Overcoming fear is a common theme in Christian music.

Mary also loves to read--I can’t keep enough literature in the house for her! Missionary stories are favorites, as well as adventure novels with inspiring, courageous characters. She still reads a lot of historical literature as part of our curriculum, too. She loves the power of story and I believe someday she’ll harness the power of story to charge hearts and lives. I bought her Katie Davis Major's two books for Christmas, which are really impacting her (Kisses for Katie, and Daring to Hope).

She loves fishing, and card and board games with her siblings. She loves her middle school church class and gets along well with boys, since her two brothers were her first companions. She usually has one girl she likes in each class. If you asked her what she wants to do with her life, she’d probably say, “Go on adventures.” She has prayed about becoming a missionary to China or another land. More recently China is cracking down on the underground house-churches, which have been very successful in growing a very large Christian population.

Paul is 15 and a hardworking student, blessed to have many things come easily to him. He excels at writing--essays, narrative and expository, and occasionally poetry, while still finding math second nature. He wavers between career choices, sometimes wondering about journalism, or being a pollster or statistician, or an engineer. He enjoys politics in a Carl Rove way, but he doesn’t engage in an emotional way. He read a large volume of articles and checked the stats every day of the midterm election season and could tell you who was running in each toss-up state for what race and what their chances were, and what scandals were brewing. He gauged the day to day chances of a Senate or House takeover and would tell me all about it; I majored in political science and, thankfully, although I never used the degree, I never lost interest. 

As a teacher does, I considered that a future president or other major leader might be in my class, so I shared bits of wisdom to shape the journey forward. Mainly, that politics shouldn’t be taken over by a we’re right/they’re wrong dynamic, but be a civic practice aimed at achieving balance in our republic, with the respective branches of government staying true to their charters. I told my future voters to read every quote from candidates before voting, looking for the one who serves God--not a faith borrowed in time for the election, but a true faith, because a leader needs strength most of all, and true strength doesn’t come from man, but from God. Man’s strength is borrowed, begged, or stolen, and always withers with enough pressure, but God’s strength is bestowed and then managed by God. And then, look for humility, because with that comes gratitude, and together they’re the foundation for a lot of other virtues. Also, that in the political process there is no room for bitterness, because ultimately, God is sovereign, and he gives and takes away power from man for purposes not known to us.

Paul still enjoys chess, gardening, baking, cooking, board games and card games with his sisters, going to local college football and basketball games with his dad and sometimes his brother, going to high school youth group, playing Christmas Carols and a few other songs on the piano, practicing basketball outside with a friend or his brother, but more often making baskets by himself to blow off steam. Paul is the quickest to offer help and sympathy when my day has been difficult; in short, he’s a giver, while still being able to compartmentalize stress and get necessary things done. He relies on the Lord for strength and hope.

Peter will be 17 in a couple weeks. He enjoys nature, many types of Christian music, fishing, and chess. His favorite school subject is history. In fact, he’s always detailing for me what he’s reading in history, expressing amazement at something from the past. He says he was born in the wrong era, except for the advancement of antibiotics and the abolishment of slavery (though we still have trafficking, he knows). A gentler time, when people honored God more, is his desire. His is a tender, very old soul.

Peter is unsure what he wants to be. Missionary work fits his gifting, as demonstrated by his work with his friends and at church, and he hasn’t given up on that idea, but his OCD obsessions obscure his real desires and he hasn’t taken control of his illness. I can’t help him beyond praying for him (we’ve done therapy). It’s harder for him to concentrate on his studies due to obsessions, but he’s a capable student and could do well in college, otherwise. Right now, he’s considering vocational work, which keeps his mind clearer. Entering a vocational high school might be a good idea for him next fall, so he can be employable right out of high school, while he matures and hopefully finds the inspiration to take control of his illness. Your prayers for him would be appreciated. Mental illness is heartbreaking and takes acceptance of/responsibility for the burden first, and then courage for the way forward.

Beth just turned 10 and had a rough year with her arthritis. She was doing so well in February that her doctor gradually took away one medicine at a time to see if she had grown out of her autoimmune disease (JIA). In June, the disease came back worse than before. She’s on three immunosuppressants right now. We’ll drop the prednisone in about five weeks, but the Orencia and methotrexate she’ll be on indefinitely.

Beth, like Paul, works very hard in school. She’s serious, but tenderhearted, always ready with a smile and hug. She loves writing and is always working on a story. The sentences come together naturally for her and she’s a good storyteller, even researching her settings online. She dreams of seeing her name on the cover of a book someday. She loves reading as well. It gets stressful around here, and Beth’s escape is to go outside, enjoying fresh air and God’s creation, which is a reminder of His presence and love. She loves studying different animals and learning about conservation, and enjoys hiking with Daddy in the summer, while the other children fish.

My husband and I will reach 20 years of marriage next July. We got married July 3, which means we almost always forget our anniversary. I will try to dissuade my children from getting married near a national holiday! The days have been long, but the years have passed by so quickly. I’m excited for my kids because they’re excited about becoming adults, but there are tears, too, when I remember all the little-kid times that have passed away. My husband, for his part, just wants his wife back. He’s still at his same two jobs working 55-60 hours and he keeps very busy as a father, taking the children individually on outings to speak love and value into their hearts. He’s a keeper! We are both growing old and not finding it easy, but God’s loving message of our worth helps, especially in our youth-obsessed culture. May God’s strength and blessing be with you all in 2019. Happy New Year!

Weekly Homeschool Wrap-Up: The One With Cocoa and Bread

This week we took a "spring break" from most regular subjects to learn about the cocoa industry and develop a family mission statement regarding the cocoa industry and our chocolate consumption. 

We also committed this week to learning to bake bread, after the arrival of our bread machine in the mail last week. Read more on that saga below, after the cocoa information.

CNN did a series of reports about the cocoa supply chain in 2012, and followed up on those reports in March 2014. While there are numerous Internet sources of information, we have thus far focused on infographics with accompanying narratives (this linked one is older info. from 2008), and the more recently produced CNN specials, some of which are detailed below.

Here is the word on Nestle:

(From CNN, 2012) An independent investigation into Nestlé's cocoa supply chain has found numerous child labor violations and kickstarted an ambitious plan to eventually eradicate forced labor and child labor in its production cycle.

The study was carried out by the Fair Labor Association with Nestlé's support.

"Our investigation of Nestlé's cocoa supply chain represents the first time a multinational chocolate producer has allowed its procurement system to be completely traced and assessed. For too long child labor in cocoa production has been everybody's problem and therefore nobody's responsibility," said FLA President Auret van Heerden.

It means Nestlé is the first chocolate-maker to comprehensively map its cocoa supply chain – and can work on identifying problems areas, training and educating workers and taking action against child labor violations. Read the rest here.

The story about another major player in the chocolate industry (Ferrero):

(From 2012) Chocolate maker Ferrero has pledged to eradicate slavery from farms where it sources its cocoa by 2020, as part of a growing movement by the multi-billion dollar industry to clean up its supply chains.

The Italian company, which produces Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Nutella spread and Kinder eggs, follows Nestle and Hershey as the third major chocolate manufacturer to announce new anti-slavery moves since September. Read the rest here.

Here is the word on Hershey

The Hershey company, one of the United States' leading chocolate producers, says it's pledged $10 million over the next five years to educate West African cocoa farmers on improving their trade and combating child labor.

The region is home to about 70% percent of the world's cocoa but has also been the source of recent scrutiny over its alleged use of child labor. (More about the issue)

Hershey's announcement Monday heartened activists, who say the company is finally focusing efforts on improving the root cause of the issue.

"It's a start," said Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum. "We see this as a welcome first step toward accountability." Read the rest here.

As I mentioned, CNN followed up on these 2012 segments in March 2014, with this 25-minute documentary.

Here is my take, gathered so far, based upon the research we've done (we're not done researching). Poverty is always a multi-faceted issue. The more you learn about abject poverty, the more you understand there are no simple solutions. I've come to believe that the way Compassion International responds to abject poverty is the best the world has to offer. You have to fight poverty in Jesus' name, one child at a time, through relationship. Otherwise, you can find yourself losing as much as you gain in this fight. Jesus is the answer to real change, both on the physical poverty level, and the spiritual poverty level. While the first world doesn't suffer from abject physical poverty, we definitely suffer from spiritual poverty, which is why we like to spend and keep our money for ourselves, always trying to improve our already-stellar living conditions.

The bottom line in the current cocoa climate is this: The big chocolate companies are now getting involved in improving the cacao farming industry not so much because they care about poverty or children, but because the industry is in trouble. Production is not sustainable under current conditions. Many of the West African trees are diseased and the small family farmers have no capital to put into improvements. Moreover, the price they receive for their intensive labor in growing and readying the beans has gone down markedly from the 1980's. They're barely making it. Many are leaving their farms for the cities, and others are switching to rubber or palm oil farms, which are more lucrative.

Most of the children working on the farms are the children of the farmers, but many are also trafficked from neighboring African countries, like children from families in desperate poverty in Burkina Faso. We have a Compassion correspondent child in Burkino Faso, who before his sponsorship through Compassion, was likely vulnerable to being trafficked to the Ivory Coast. The children are promised good wages and good living conditions, and even school, but instead, they are treated like slaves and often go back to Burkina Faso with barely enough bus money. They use dangerous tools like machetes and handle dangerous pesticides without protective gear, working long hours with little food.

Research and decide how you will change your chocolate consumption and spending habits. That is step one. Another way to do your part is to prevent the desperate situations these trafficked children are in by sponsoring children through Compassion. Above and beyond your $38 a month sponsorship money, try to send your child monetary gifts as often as you can (even $50 goes a long way), to help the family start a small business and/or purchase mattresses and non-leaking roof supplies, and food. All of your family or child gift money goes directly to the child's family. Compassion works with the family to assess their needs, and takes them shopping to spend all of your gift funds. Then, a picture is taken of what was purchased, with the child in the picture, and sent to you in a letter from the child. You will also receive at least three other letters per year from your child, guaranteed, and you are encouraged to write at least monthly.

Just being able to sleep better helps these children perform better in school. Before they receive help from Compassion and from you, most sleep on the ground, sometimes with a leaking tin roof over their heads. Compassion pays their school fees and trains their families in best health practices, provides health care and fosters emotional, physical, and spiritual growth. Most importantly of course, through Compassion's child development centers, sponsored children are taught about Jesus Christ and guided in developing a saving relationship with Him. They are not required to become Christians to be served, however.

The child development centers are run out of partnerships with local churches, using their buildings, with Compassion employees heading the programs. Often the children also attend the partnering church, but some attend other churches, or don't attend church at all. There are no religious requirements--just sound Biblical teaching. The Lord does the work in these children's hearts. Of the Compassion children we write to, I am certain that four of them have growing relationships with Christ.

Parents and high schoolers are also taught vocational skills at the Compassion child development centers, and good students can go to college as part of Compassion's  Leadership Development Program.

Back to the cocoa industry now. We will be continuing to find current information through the weekend, and will hopefully develop a family cocoa mission statement by next week. The problem is not just in the cocoa industry. Child labor is also used in cotton fields and other farming industries, and you probably already know about other evil child trafficking. To prevent exploitation we have to sponsor children so they don't continue in desperate, vulnerable situations. Buying fair trade makes a positive impact, but it needs to be combined with child sponsorship. Otherwise, desperate third-world families will fall prey to some other evil scheme.

Here is more current information about the cocoa situation in West African, from a site called Food Is Power. This site recommends chocolates that are sourced without child labor. It notes that even some fair trade chocolate is not immune to the problem of child labor. It also lists companies that are working on the problem in some way, and those that won't disclose any information. Trader Joe's is one company who would not disclose their cocoa sourcing.

Bread Making at Home...the Beginner's Saga

I mentioned in last week's wrap-up that we bought a bread making machine, as part of "clean" eating. If you've looked at the label on even the healthiest store-bought bread, you're probably convinced that homemade is better, if you've got the time and inclination. We had the inclination and were determined to make the time.

The most important point about eating clean foods is not that they'll possibly prolong your life and make you more comfortable while you're here. That may seem like the point at first, but as I thought about the time involved and as we lived it, something else occurred to me.

How busy does God really want us to be? If we're too busy to prepare real foods, then something is off balance. Cooking and eating together is precious. So much growth and bonding and blessing occurs as we do these things as one unit. Working with our hands and hearts to bless our families is worth our time! And it's worth our family's time to help us in the kitchen, so that many hands make light work.

Now, if you're nursing a new baby or about to have one, enlist all the help you can get but don't worry about revamping your family's food preparation. Love on that baby and pray for an army of help. There are definitely seasons when getting anything on the table feels monumental. I once had four children 7 and under so I know how it goes.

Have I ever mentioned that I am a very determined person? Every good trait has a flip side, and of course I'm also stubborn. Once I have it on my mind that something is important, I brace myself and persevere through trials. Nursing each of my four children was challenging. There were complications ranging from post-partum preeclampsia and babies who took weeks to learn to latch, most likely due to an oversupply of milk and the fact that they were all born a couple weeks early. There were tears and prayers and desperate nights and weeks. It was the most intense time of my life, but each child eventually learned and nursed a long time, ranging from 13 months to 4.5 years (the latter because this child has an autoimmune disease and needed the breastmilk antibodies longer).

As I tried to make yeast bread this week, I thought about my nursing trials. Yes, yeast is that complicated. There are a number of tips out there for novice bakers whose bread won't rise. For half the week I felt like a failure, carrying a scarlet-letter sign: "Certified Yeast Idiot".

Online baking sights, however, were very encouraging, indicating that everyone fumbles at first. I picked myself up and decided that my kitchen would become an everyday bread factory and the only significant thing required was patience...okay, and a little science.

If you want to get it right, you have to become a scientist, altering one thing at a time and recording what you've done, until you get it right. And then, next season, as temperatures and humidity change, so might your ingredients proportions.

I discovered that the bread machine kneads better than a human, but it doesn't bake better. For the best results, use it on the dough cycle and let it do all the hard work for you, and then merely take out the dough, knock it down and shape it, putting it into the pan and letting it rise in a warm oven for another hour or so, and then bake for 30 minutes. 

I've learned that your measuring tools and even your pans have to be precise--we're really talking science here, but don't let that scare you. It becomes second nature soon enough, which hasn't happened for me yet!

Your family, with the delicious bread in their hands, honey dripping, will feel like royalty. Homemade bread is a privilege to make for your loved ones. It's a delicious blessing that goes beyond the taste and lovely texture. It's an act of love. (Made considerably more sustainable with the advent of bread machines)

We got the bread maker last Friday, and it was Wednesday before we had a rise like this, which still wasn't exactly right. I used too much yeast twice, but as I got that right, the machine let the dough rise too long, and it fell as soon as baking commenced. Finally, I decided to let it rise the last time in my oven, allowing me more control over the outcome.

In the summer when I don't want to heat up the house, we'll use the bake function on the bread machine.

Also, at first I was using regular active dry yeast, which stated on the jar that it could be used in bread machines. Turns out, there is an instant yeast that is not necessarily the same as the quick-rising yeast, and it's this instant yeast that is best for bread machines. I bought it tonight and will hopefully get a more even and complete rise tomorrow.

image

The bread below was our best so far (with just the active dry yeast), which includes 100% whole white wheat (an albino wheat that tastes less grainy, but is still 100% whole wheat) mixed with a quarter cup of flax seed.

It's still delicious, but you can see that the rise wasn't even. Whole wheat flour makes a denser bread and is harder to work with, requiring more practice time and determination. However, the fiber in our diets is important so it's worth it to learn to work with whole wheat flour. Most of us don't regularly get enough fruits and veggies to meet the 25 to 30 grams a day of recommended fiber (average American eats 15 grams daily). Foods high in fiber include whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Flax seed hides well in foods, not having much taste on its own. It adds healthy fat (Omega-3) to our diets as well as fiber and vitamins & minerals. You can also try it in pancake batter along with whole wheat flour. The pancakes are delicious.

Flax seed nutritional facts: This food is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Thiamine and Manganese.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3163/2#ixzz3VYfbyx7W

So, our bread saga continues. I'll keep you posted. 

How was your week, friends? Thank you for reading here and have a great weekend!

With the Overflow of Your Heart

I am sharing an excerpt from a letter a formerly-sponsored child wrote to his Compassion International sponsor. The author of the letter, now an adult, has been the host for Compassion Bloggers this week in the Dominican Republic. His sponsor dramatically changed his life with her love, her prayers, her comfort, expressed through letters through the years. He refers to her as Grandma. Holley Gerth shared this excerpt on her blog. Read the full letter here.

image courtesy of Compassion International

What am I here for?

That was the question I asked myself many times when I was lonely, sad and empty, without purpose. And it was at that very moment that God used Compassion International to help me understand that, yes, I have a purpose and a reason to exist. This is what 80% percent of the children living in third world countries think–that they are nothing and that they have no future.

I wanted to start this letter that way because I wanted you to know that my life has really changed.

A very famous atheist said one day: “God does not exist because if God existed there would not be so many hungry children on this earth, nor so many diseases and catastrophes in the world.” My answer to that atheist is this: ”Millions of children, including me, have been released from material and mental poverty that undermined their lives through wonderful ministries like Compassion International.”

You are the protagonist in this love story–you are responsible for this change.

God has made man in His image and likeness and has given man the tremendous power to create; create Love, Faith, Hope, Dreams, Desire, Families, Communities, Cities, Nations, Opportunities and Compassion.

I will never be able to be grateful enough with words for your love for someone you never met before, someone who is not your family, your son or your nephew, or your grandson but someone that you loved without knowing him.

This is the answer to all those who claim that God doesn’t exist. You’re the answer.

And God is pleased with your work, God is happy because you have given more than what you had just like that widow who gave all she had. “In truth she has given more than all of you,” said Jesus.

You are the hands of God! And that’s why I no longer pray as I used to do before. I heard a pastor say: ”Do not ask God to feed the hungry if YOU have enough food in your pantry.” The truth is that many times we ask wrongly, because we ask God to do things when in our ignorance we forget that we are God’s response to the misfortunes of others.

This is why Jesus said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’’ John 13:34

Thanks again for writing. I treasure every one of your letters not only in a chest but also in my heart. I take time to read them over and over again because they are like oil of joy in times of distress.

I will never forget your prayers for me and for the coming generations–you left personal things to leave a legacy to the world.

With much love,

Jonathan Almonte

If you aren't already a sponsor, may I ask...what's holding you back? His Word is clear about what we are to do for children and the poor, and his faithfulness in our lives is proof we can do it without fear or doubt. If you aren't already committed beyond your means to other ministries, please consider Compassion, who seeks, through your love, devotion, letters and funds, to change a heart for Christ--a heart that goes on to bless multitudes of others, for Compassion children always give back to their communities. 

Become a part of a beautiful testimony of God's grace and love. Sponsor a child. For the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. We don't own our bank accounts or our paychecks or our possessions. We don't own the future and we can't secure it, either. We can only love the Lord with all of our heart, all of our mind, all our strength, and our fellow man too, trusting God for everything else.

The more possessions we fill our life with, the further we get from God and His blessing of provision. He knows what we need for abundant life. We are sorrowfully mistaken that it has anything to do with the material, for all the material things we need will be given to us as we put first the Kingdom of God. And that doesn't just mean going to church on Sunday. We have to live our lives for the Lord to be seeking first His Kingdom. We all fall short in this...we all want more than we need. In first-world countries, we all have more than we need. As we cling to God and his Word, he opens our eyes to what it means to be blessed, and what it means to be a blessing. 

Please, sponsor a child today. We need to be rescued from our abundance, as much as Compassion children need to be rescued from the hopelessness of poverty.

If you already have a sponsor child, write to him or her today and at least monthly. On behalf of Jonathan Almonte and other graduated Compassion children like him, thank you for your love, your time, for your desire to be obedient and share the overflow of your heart.

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Other posts from this Dominican Republic week:

Bonnie at Faith Barista: Why Compassion Isn't a Project But an Intimate Whisper of Love

Ruth Soukup at Living Well Spending Less: Just One

Bonnie at Faith Barista: Why Love is Not a Consolation But a Light

Weekly Homeschool Wrap-Up 2/20

Outside my window:

Outside here in northeast Ohio we're having the coldest winter in at least ten years, which is about how long we've lived here. Tonight it will be 13 below--and not just wind chill. My husband is depressed about having to get out of bed in the morning to face it, being a winter hater. Usually, I balk at complaining about the weather, rolling my eyes at those who view snow and cold as the anti-Christs, but even we die-hard optimists are tired of the cold this year.

Inside Our Homeschool:

I mentioned last week that my boys, ages 11 and 13, are abandoning Sonlight Core G (World History Part 1), only to take up Sonlight Core H instead (World History Part 2, the last 500 years). We'll finish the Core G at another time.

We'll be using Core H's Bible, History/Literature, some of their language arts writing lessons based upon the readers, and all the read-alouds. So basically, the whole curriculum will be enjoyed.

They've delved in joyfully and I'm so pleased. I put each synopsis for the books in red type, so if you're not interested just skip all the red type. Here is the first reader:

The King's Fifth

Set in the year 1541

Amazon reader synopsis: (by reader Chatelaine) Esteban was a cartographer, or map maker, on a ship on the coast of South America. Their ship was to rendezvous with another to make a search for the Cities of Gold. One of the officers aboard the ship wants to mutiny, and strike out to search for the cities, in hopes of collecting even more gold and fame. He talks Esteban into accompanying him, along with some others.

They travel and encounter all kinds of dangers from nature and from the natives. They ask the people they come across for gold, but to them, it is not important. Esteban and his companions find it all important. As they travel on toward the Cities of Gold, their lust for gold gains a tighter and tighter grip upon them. At the beginning, Esteban marveled at the way the desire for gold had warped others, but later on, he ceases to care for others, and is willing to sacrifice whatever and whoever may come between him and the riches his soul so greedily craves. He ends up with a great amount of gold, which he tries to carry back with him. Eventually, he sees that his greed was killing him, and deposits the gold where it can never be recovered.

The story is told from Esteban's prison cell. It is the law to give one fifth of all discovered treasure to the king of Spain. The chapters alternate with Esteban recalling his journey through South America, and his recording what is happening in the prison. He says his indictment is true; he did discover treasure, and he did not give the king his fifth. His prosecutors and jailor are not so much concerned with the king's fifth, however. They want to know where the treasure is, so they can find it. They ask for maps, which Esteban draws; but he says they will never find it. Even he, who knows where it is, could never find it. He is offered his freedom from his sentence if he will be a guide to the gold, but he turns it down. He has realized that, after all, the gold is not important. He has learned what is important, and when he has served his sentence, he will pursue the things and people that matter.

Bible Devotionals

Sonlight Cores come with assigned daily Bible verses, as well as accompanying devotionals. There are five devotionals for teens/tweens in Core H, the first being The BBC Manual: Turning Your Bedroom into a Bible College:

Synopsis: The Bible, What A Book! No other book has influenced the world like the Bible. No other book has sold more copies, been translated into more languages, yet suffered as much persecution as the Bible. A miraculous compilation of 66 different book, written over a period of 1,600 years by over 40 different authors, yet possessing a supernatural unity from Genesis to Revelation. Impossible, if written by many minds, yet possible if written by one God through the hands of many men (II Peter 1:21). The Bible is God's marvelous "love letter" to man. 

FEED "Feeding" on the Word of God is much easier when you learn the principles of observations. "How to Read the Bible" and "How to Study the Bible" will help you unearth the treasures found in God's Word. Bible study sheets and Bible reading plans will help you to "chart" your progress as you get a "grip" on the Word. 

HEED Meditation is the key to "good success." Moving the Word of God from your head into your heart is the goal of Biblical meditation. Practical pointers on how to get God's Word into your mind and heart will make memorization and meditation a delight. 

DEED Learning to apply God's Word to your life is the goal of a devotional walk with God. Determining your objectives, defining your goals and developing your action plan will help you to "deed" the Word, not only "read" the Word. Climb the staircase to realized objectives. Gregg Johnson is a gifted speaker, writer and musician. Gregg travels internationally ministering to tweens and their parents, young people, youth pastors and adults in camps, conferences and churches. At 14 Gregg turned his bedroom into a Bible College and his devotions became a delight.

On Fridays they'll be reading Don't All Religions Lead to God?

Synopsis: Insightful comparison of Christianity to several other key religions. Concise, accessible arguments against today's tolerant culture and for faith in Jesus. An easy-to-read apologetics work.

The History spine includes The Story of the World Volume 3: Early Modern Times, and The Story of the World Volume 4: Modern Times. Two other spine books included are The Usborne Encyclopedia of the World (I have the 2009 edition), and The Kingfisher Encyclopedia.

Synopsis: 

Volume 3 in this series covers the major historical events in the years 1600 to 1850, as well as includes maps, illustrations, and biographies.

This captivating guide to the history of other lands is written in an engaging, straightforward manner and weaves world history into a story book format that is entertaining and easy to read.

As always, I'm very impressed with Sonlight. I didn't dislike the novels from Core G, which we abandoned. It's just that the topics were mature for my boys' ages, more so than Core H novels as a whole. Each child is different and you can't always go by suggested ages. We'll get back to those books in the next couple years.

K and 2nd Grade News

The girls, ages 6 and 8, are still enjoying Sonlight Core B books, read to them by myself and by my two boys. They are also doing All About Reading Level 1 and 2, and All About Spelling Level 1. Mary, age 8, will be finishing both her spelling and reading soon, and we move on to Level 3 in reading and level 2 in spelling.

All About Reading Level 1, for Beth, age 6 - learning /ch/ and /sh/ consonant blends. The mouse gets to eat the cheese (words written on back of the cheese pieces) if child can read the words correctly.

All About Spelling Level 1 - Learning when to use /c/ at the beginning of a word, and when to use /k/. Student is taught to leave the slot for the /c/ sound blank, and go on spelling the rest of the word. Then, go back to the /c/ sound and use the spelling rule. C says /s/ before e, i, and y, to decide whether to use a c or k. Always try c first. 

All About Reading Level 1 - Learning /ch/ and /sh/

Kitty gets to help read the words. Stuffed animals go to school too around here.

Drawing books used for their daily drawing time, during morning devotions. We started this so the six year old would stay still during devotions, which is sometimes a problem. 

Personal reading time for Mary, age 8.

All About Reading Level 2 - Gerbil game for practicing the rule: G says /j/ before e, i, or y.

Read each word as gerbil goes through his "cage".

Melissa and Doug Body Puzzle, 2-sided

Learning how to make a stitch. Paul is teaching Beth, which resulted in two needle pokes and some tears;, after which my six-year-old started making a doll from felt pieces and glue instead.

This is Mary's "workshop" pose, used when she really needs to concentrate to decode a word. She's a hoot. I love teaching my own kids!

In case you think we are rich and can afford Guess jeans, let me just say those were brand new jeans from a thrift store for $2.50. I don't buy any new clothes, except socks and underwear and sometimes winter coats and shoes. If you are willing to look through every child's garment on the racks at Goodwill, your kids can come out looking quite nice...and you too for that matter. You just need a two-hour chunk of time about every couple months to store up for future seasons and sizes, taking from the best they have.

Health News
Beth's eye muscle surgery to correct wandering eyes (strabismus) will be on April 2. She also goes for another infusion of Orencia next Tuesday, which she is dreading. Still no side effects so far from this new medicine. The swelling in her arthritic knees is down slightly, but the full effect won't come for a couple months. She is now taking two immunosuppressants and it's hard not to be concerned about her getting sick. I am trusting God, but I have to keep giving it to Him. I hate sitting in the waiting room, too, when someone undergoes surgery. I always imagine--what happens if they never come out of anesthesia? How will I make it through that? Then I remind myself how rare that is, but it's still incredibly nerve wracking.

Other News
It was a shorter week. We took Monday off for President's Day, but it was too frigid to go anywhere. Then Tuesday we took off to deep clean and organize the bedrooms, which were all an eyesore. Everything still looks spiffy in all the bedrooms, which is so nice!

Compassion International News

Compassion International took a team of bloggers to the Dominican Republic this week. I love to support Compassion International! See my highlight of favorite Dominican Republic posts here. I think of the four Compassion children we write to as my own children. I feel wholly invested in their lives and hopes and dreams, and in their spiritual growth. I just know you will be changed, and your children too, if you sponsor a child. Outside of being a mom and wife and daughter of the King, writing to these children is my greatest joy! The Lord loves the little children and He loves it when we speak life into them. We represent Him when we love a child and give the gift of Hope.

Difference Between World Vision and Compassion International

Different than World Vision, Compassion International works with local churches to administer their program, which uplifts these children and their families spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. 84% of your $38/month sponsorship money goes directly to the children so they can attend the Child Development Center (at the local church, administered through Compassion staff), and receive health care, Bible teaching and discipleship, emergency food, supplemental food, and school fees and uniforms, and benefit from parenting, nutrition, vocational, and hygiene classes. Every child or family gift you send goes directly to the family, which is not true of World Vision, which operates a far less direct organization, using a different approach (bottom-down approach--change the neighborhoods to change individual outcomes).

Compassion goes with the family to the marketplace to spend your gift money, and helps them analyze their needs and how best to use the money. In this manner, local economies are stimulated. You receive a photo of the child next to all that was purchased with your gift money. Understand that you are not required to send any gift money. The letters you send make the most impact on these families. They treasure them like gold, rereading them for years. Many of these children are never told they are loved, until they receive a sponsor and start going to the Compassion Child Development Center, where staff love on them two to three times weekly, after school and on Saturdays. Their parents are in survival mode, and showering love on their children isn't part of their daily reality, which is characteristic of abject poverty households generally speaking, but not in all countries.

The difference between World Vision and Compassion International is that Compassion invests heavily in one child and that child's family, and through that intense investment, changes a whole neighborhood for Christ. The bottom-up approach, with the pastor of the local church and church attenders helping the whole process along as well, partnering with Compassion staff.

Neighborhood children are enrolled and their families are helped in emergencies even before their child is chosen by a sponsor (but they can't attend center activities unless they have a sponsor). World Vision does work with families, but less directly. They hope to change things by also changing the community the children live in, but without the discipleship involved in Compassion International's approach. World Vision works even in regions where the Bible and Christ are forbidden topics, and you cannot mention anything about these topics in your letters to children in those regions.

Compassion only administers their program where they can use the name of Jesus and bring Bibles and Bible teaching. You as a sponsor are encouraged to speak spiritual life and hope into your child through regular letters (hopefully at least monthly letters). They need to know that poverty need not define them. Your child will write back to you three times a year at the very least, or after every one of your letters, depending on the staff available to help the children. My children answer almost every one of my letters.

How was your week? Thank you for reading here. Bless you!

Sharing with other moms at this link-up, here.

The Joy in Compassion

Compassion bloggers are in the Dominican Republic this week, sharing the incredible blessing Compassion International is in the lives of these precious families. I am linking to my favorite posts below.

Read on to find out why $38 a month to sponsor a child is the best decision you'll make this year.

Bonnie at Faith Barista: Why One Country Road Paved With Dirt Let to a Waterfall of Joy

Bonnie at Faith Barista: Meeting Braudy: How One Tin-Roof Shack Turned Brokenness Into Beauty

Bonnie at Faith Barista: The First Child I Saw, Standing in His Story


Brianne McCoy: To Even Exist

Ruth Soukup : The Last Thing I Expected to Find

Holley Gerth: Hopes and Dreams

The Addict Versus the Christian: Your Response

One of the hardest things I've ever had to do? Definitely, it's detaching from my mother's drinking and its consequences. Last night I received another angry email from a sibling--one who is deeply entrenched in enablement, and harshly judging me for my stance. Reading it sent my heart racing, and once again, I perceived that addiction is a gift that just keeps on giving--and not in a good way.

How one deals with an addicted person involves assessing what stage of denial they're in, and acting according to their readiness for recovery. If the denial is deep, and they refuse to admit they have a problem, there is little one can do, outside of detaching.

What is detachment, exactly? And why do I bother writing this post?

When I think back to my family life growing up, and how all of us behaved, I'm deeply saddened by the secrecy and denial. Addiction is shameful and ugly, but keeping it secret is even more shameful. If you deal with an addicted person in your life, I urge you to move away from secrecy and toward acknowledgement and transparency. Denial and secrecy are your enemies, and millions of families, including millions of innocent children, suffer needlessly not so much because of someone's addiction, but because of the secrecy and denial.

Reject your former response and move into the Light. Give your addicted friend or family member over to the care of our Almighty God, who is mighty to save. Any control you think you have over the situation is mere illusion.

Detachment is considered cruel by those who don't understand its value; you will be judged harshly. Lean on the Lord as you detach and gather your support where you can. Stand by your convictions, even if it means standing alone. Be gracious to those who won't understand, remembering that few of us understand what we haven't experienced.

Detachment, by definition, is removing yourself from the consequences of someone's addiction. It is crucial for recovery purposes that they take the consequences, fully. Any help from you in that regard just makes them get sicker--and you get sicker too, with your enabling and your refusal to move into the Light. Addiction is sin, and you want no role in it.

Is it also a disease? Probably, so ask God to provide what you need to forgive, to give you the compassion necessary to view your loved one as the Lord views her--as a sinner in need of Grace. Don't judge, but also, don't participate.

Think of detachment as being neither kind nor unkind. Don't bail your loved one out of jail, if it gets to that. Don't do any act, large or small, that makes the person more comfortable, outside of saving their life if you can. That said, if they commit suicide, don't take responsibility for it. Each person is accountable for their own life, and we don't "save" anyone. Addiction or not, God will judge the person by their actions, by their denial of Him, by their refusal to repent.

Romans 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Romans 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds

Galatians 6:5 For each will have to bear his own load.

God saves, and any part we have in it is because he allowed us to have a part, for His glory. Don't believe that you can change anything, for that is controlling--part of the enabler's sickness. Yes, it's true. Enablers have a controlling streak. And what's worse, they're capable of pity only, not love, until they understand the difference between the two. Their self-esteem comes from rescuing people over and over. It gives them a false sense of power--an illusion of grand purpose. As such, their sickness is just as serious as the addict's.

I have a friend who recently lost a grandfather--a grandfather unsaved and negative toward God. The family deeply grieves his passing, which was more painful than most losses, due to his final destination. They tried to witness, to no avail. What she explained to me in her letter was one of the hardest things any of us has to process this side of heaven. Why doesn't God save everyone? She said they have to trust that God is just, and acts accordingly.

Why doesn't God save every addict? Why doesn't he soften every heart? Why doesn't he rescue every child stuck in an addictive home? All of it is mystery. Don't try to figure it out. Trust in the Lord fully and believe in His goodness. Give thanks that He saved you, and feel guilty not for those who perish unsaved, unless you never shared the Gospel. But even then, let the guilt go because God is sovereign, and he works through our sloppy or inadequate attempts. If we live unashamed of the Gospel, that is witness in itself. Don't hide your faith, don't water it down, don't keep it quiet to avoid offending. Live boldly and let God work through you.

And hold on tight, because the world will hate you because of your unveiled love for and allegiance to the Son. They will distort it all, claiming moral relativism and tolerance is the way to go, for in their minds, absolute Truth doesn't exist.

If someone you love is never saved, know that God is Love, regardless. Cling to Him and His goodness, which will only make you stronger for the work he has for us, as Christians.

The last thing I want to say, is to believe. Imagine what it will be like when your loved one meets the Redeemer. Hope. Because hope will keep you praying. Hope will strengthen you. Hope will be your endurance. Hope will help you run and finish the race well, for His glory.

Remember how Jesus was viewed by his own town members? They were blind to the divine in Him. They were too close to it all, in essence. I don't believe that family members are always the best Gospel deliverers, for the receivers are too caught up in the emotional responses ingrained in them toward that member.

And when you've been hurt by an addicted family member, it's even harder to "deliver" the Gospel well. Trust God here to bring in a neutral party to seal the deal. And remember, too, that your responses are not always going to be good ones. Be compassionate toward yourself, as well. It's easier to shower compassion on an addicted outsider, than it is on one who has hurt you. I read a pastor's account of this, in relation to his own functioning alcoholic father. He noticed that he showers compassion easily on the addicted (compassion not pity) who have hurt others with their addiction, rather than him.

As you pray for your loved one, pray someone neutral into their lives, who will deliver the Gospel and Love without prejudice, and be a sound and enduring witness.

This is where I'm at now. Fighting for hope. It appears my mother has rejected God for good, and other loved ones are being brought down with her. It's so hard to have hope, for I've prayed so long.

But God is at work in my heart, teaching me to hope. To hope in Him, for He is our only true Hope.