I got a KID for Christmas!!!!!!!

I'll write more very soon, but just couldn't wait to share the news! My absolute favorite gift this year was a CHILD!!! :-D

Okay, so nobody wrapped one up & put it under the tree... and I'm not married & a Christian, so I'm a virgin (and proud of it!) so obviously I'm not pregnant. But on Christmas morning, my wonderful Mom asked my sister & I to open specific presents at the same time.

Guess what each of us found???

A profile from World Vision - a Christian child sponsorship organization that provides for not only physical needs but spiritual as well! - specially chosen by my mother. We each have a child sponsored in OUR names, paid for by my Mom. It's an AMAZING gift for so many reasons, but one of them is that this is a commitment my Mom made to pay each month for these two children's sponsorship. Beyond that, she has nothing to do with them - I will be the one my child knows as sponsor, the one to write, send small gifts, pray over each & every day... it's all in my name. But my Mom is the one who has pledged to pay each month until the time comes when each of us is able to take that responsibility over.

I cannot tell you how perfect this gift is! This Christmas I was blessed with many presents... a lot of money (well, a lot for someone who is unable to work at the moment while I'm going through my medical treatments, it sure seems like a lot when you have no income even though to most people it's not much!), the documentaries I asked for (I LOVE watching documentaries, it's my hobby & so educational as well), books, clothes, music, gift cards, every.single.item on my Christmas list! But this one was a surprise.

And it is BY FAR my most favorite gift.

Thanks, Mommy, for following God's leading to care for those who need it. For taking on the responsibility of paying to provide Eshetu & his parents, brother and 2 sisters what they are unable to get themselves in Ethiopia. And, most importantly, thank you for allowing them the chance to learn about Jesus in a way that will, I pray, lead to their eternal salvation. Knowing a 9-year-old Ethiopian boy learned that for Christmas he got a sponsor, knowing his entire family will benefit, knowing what the sacrifice you will make monthly will mean for Eshetu & his family, means more to me than I can put into words.

And, of course, praise be to God for giving us this opportunity.

Although in these tough economic times not everyone can afford to sponsor a child, I HIGHLY recommend looking into it! I've sponsored through Save the Children before, but when that child aged out, switched to Compassion because it is CHRIST-CENTERED and if you're going to provide for a person's critical needs, their spiritual well-being is most important of all! And our family has sponsored through World Vision in the past as well, so I can recommend both Compassion AND World Vision as organizations that will use your money responsibly. It is a VERY SERIOUS RESPONSIBILITY and not something to enter into lightly - if you know going in that you may not be able to meet the payment obligations, I personally wouldn't sponsor at this time, but you can ALWAYS look at the profiles online & simply pray over the faces you see! After all, prayer is the ultimate means of offering support, and God knows that if you're offering all you can and that happens to be "just" prayers, He will reward you as richly as He would a millionaire sponsoring a hundred children.

I'll be writing more when the Intro packet gets here this week... and probably write before then about other things as well, so check back soon! And PLEASE join me in prayer for Eshetu, "my" 9-year-old boy in Ethiopia, as well as his farmer father, mother, brother, and two sisters. Please pray that they will be blessed through this sponsorship and most importantly that God will use it to draw them all closer to Him!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and a happy New Year! :-)