Philippines Update

Hey guys, I wanted to update you on my Compassion child, Rhean from the Philippines who was affected by the record-breaking typhoon that struck her country last fall.

As you may recall, I was able to send her a family gift in January after hearing that her home and many of the family's possessions were destroyed in the storm.  In Compassion's program when a sponsor sends a gift to the child or her family, 100% of the money goes straight to the child.  Someone from the Compassion center will then sit down with the family to discuss what to use the money on and then they go shopping for the items.  Although sponsors can suggest things for the family to consider purchasing, it is ultimately up to them what they buy.  I chose not to recommend anything to Rhean's family, instead trusting that God knew what they needed better than I did.

Sweet little Rhean with her gifts (ignore the grumpy face, I assume it comes after a long, boring day of shopping with mom)

This week I got a letter from Rhean letting me know what she was able to purchase with the gift money.  I also got an added surprise in the form of a photo of my darling girl surrounded by what they bought.  Although it's hard to tell from the picture, the accompanying letter says that Rhean's family was able to buy new clothes and shoes for she and her siblings plus rice and other food for the family.  Although I was somewhat expecting the gift to be used on building materials, I am thrilled that this family was able to get things that they truly needed.  It also looks in the picture like they may already have some supplies (bamboo, wiring, etc piled next to Rhean).

The letter also said that Rhean had a check-up recently and was declared healthy.  She also 'graduated' third in her kindergarten class, and says she will keep working hard in school and that she likes it very much.  

In other news, since graduating from college a few weeks ago, I've been busy working and getting ready to venture back to El Salvador in August.  I have also decided to start a new blog to chronicle that particular adventure.  (Don't worry I'll still ramble about my Compassion kids here.)  The new blog is called Adventures in My Heartland, and I would love for you to follow along with me there as well.  

Exciting News!

Hi friends!  Remember how I said I had a lot to catch you up on from the last few months?  Well, this should basically sum it up:

I'm Going Back to El Salvador!

And now for the backstory.  In the rather abbreviated version, after returning from visiting Marlen in May 2012, I began to feel called to spend more time serving overseas.  That spurred a flurry of research on opportunities for short term service and a slew of applications with several different organizations and programs.  Over the past month or so I have begun to hear back from some of the organizations and have faced some stress as I had a few very different possible opportunities to pursue.  I then spent considerable time in prayer over where I was supposed to go.

Then, about a week ago I began to feel more at peace and officially accepted a position with Christ for the City International in El Salvador.  Although there are still details to be worked out, I am planning on leaving in August to spend a few months then returning in January for several more months.  During that time I will be working with children from the community, teaching them English.

I am beyond excited to be returning to this beautiful place that stole my heart and I cannot wait to see where God will continue to lead me on this journey!

An Update from the Philippines!

Hi friends!  There is so much to catch you up on thanks to my little blogging hiatus there.  I promise to tell you about everything soon.  For now, however, I wanted to let you know what's going on with my little 5-year-old Compassion correspondent, Rhean, from the Philippines.

If you remember, I posted back in November about the record-breaking typhoon that hit the island nation.  My sweet girl and her family live in an area that was in the direct path of the storm.  I (and many others) spent several weeks praying for this family's safety as well as that of the millions of others in the storm's wake.

In mid-late December I got notice from Compassion that Rhean's home was damaged and the family lost some possessions and school supplies.  I was heartbroken for them but also so thankful that the family was safe.  Thanks to a very thoughtful Christmas gift from my brother, I was able to send a financial gift to help them rebuild.  It will likely be another couple of months before I find out what they were able to do with this but I promise to keep you in the loop.

Then, today, I received a letter from Rhean (written by her wonderful mom as usual) updating me on how they're recovering.  She writes that the house was destroyed by coconut trees falling on it.  Hearing this about how the home was damaged makes me even more thankful that none of them were hurt as there could have been serious, even life-threatening, injuries.

On a lighter note, Rhean's mom also shared that she gave birth to a healthy baby boy last July (I knew she was pregnant but never heard about the baby).  She says that Rhean is a good big sister and likes to play with her little brother.  She also said that Rhean was able to get new dresses and hair clips for Christmas at the Compassion project.

The letter ends with a plea to 'always pray that no other typhoon will hit here like Typhoon Haiyan.'  Please join me in praying that this type of disaster will not repeat itself.

And, I really do promise to try to be better about keeping up here.  I've got some exciting stuff going on right now as I try to get my post-college life together and I'll let you know when I get it worked out.

Resolutions

Happy New Year Friends and Welcome to 2014!

Around this time of year people start thinking about all the things they want to change about themselves and their lives.  They consider all of the negatives from the previous year and become optimistic about leaving them all behind starting now.  Then they make big promises to themselves, usually grand but vague, describing how they will be better people now than they were before.  Soon enough however, (I heard today the average is 3 weeks later) those sweeping promises begin to fall to the wayside and old habits are settled back into until the next January when all is repeated.

Primarily for the reasons described above, I have never been too keen on the idea of New Year's Resolutions.  I think a person should try to be his best all the time, not save it up for a few weeks at the beginning of the new year.  I also think that making such huge commitments to change all at once will only cause people to become frustrated when they inevitably slip, leading them to give up and feel angry at themselves for their inability to change overnight.

Apparently there is also a new trend of people choosing not a tangible goal, but a word to live by in the coming year.  This still seems fuzzy to me as I don't want to choose a word to live by that will end up not being applicable to my life this year.  It also seems to have a similar likelihood of being broken or forgotten about fairly quickly.  (Maybe I'm just being pessimistic though.)

With that said, for now at least, I will try to keep up the goal I set for myself in 2013 (not at New Years mind you).  Over the past several months I have worked to stop saying no.  I've spent a great deal of my life trying to protect myself with that tiny, powerful word.  No to opportunities to be social, to step out of my comfort zone, to have fun.  All because I was afraid I might say the wrong thing, make a mistake, or look foolish.  So, recently I have been working very hard to reverse that so that I start living freely and truly enjoy life.  It's something that I have to consciously work for, but so far I am loving the results and hope to continue to progress in 2014.  However, it will be just that, a progression of prior changes, not an overnight identity change.

2013 was a wonderful year for me and I only hope that 2014 will hold just as much fun, love, and growth.