A Letter To Me....

Dear 8 year old me,

Hi! It's been a while since I thought about you. But that's what I've been prompted to do this week, Stop for a moment, think about you, and decide on one thing that I would tell you if I could. So after some thought, what I most want you to know is this:

You are loved - wildly, truly, deeply by your Heavenly Father, and what's more, it has nothing to do with what you do or don't do. It doesn't depend on how well you behave, how much you please your parents and friends, and what all those around you think of you. It doesn't matter how pretty or clever or popular you are - our God doesn't care about those things!! He just loves passionately because that's who He is. And nothing at all that you can do can change that. He will never ever stop loving you, His thoughts and feelings toward you will never change. And you can not make Him love you more by doing all the "right" things. As I said, He will not stop loving you or love you any more (how can you be loved more by One who already loves perfectly??) despite what you do or don't do.

But since I can't go back and tell you all those things, I will try and tell those little ones in my life. Little ones - like my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews but also my Compassion sponsor children. My Gokul, Sangita, and Vishwa. These three play such an important role in my life, and living in slums in India and rarely having enough to eat could make them think that they are not loved but they are! Loved by their Father and loved by me! And I want them never ever to forget that...

They are loved and precious and important!!

Love Me

If you would like to help rescue a child from poverty and the belief that no one loves or cares for them, this September is Blog Month with Compassion, and we are attempting to find sponsors for 3,160 children. So if you would like to help, just click here or here and help save a little one's life. You won't regret it!!



Operation World

 

"Of India's 400 million children under 15 years old, possibly up to 35 million are orphans. Eleven million are abandoned (90%) girls; three million live on the street. There are 20 million child labourers (including many instances of bond slavery to pay family debts) - some estimates claim 50 million. Up to two-thirds of children suffer physical abuse, and one-half some kind of sexual harassment or abuse. Over 1.2 million are involved in prostitution; many of them are Nepali or Bangladeshi."

 

Operation World 

 

 

I read this in Operation World today and it just blew my mind. 35 million orphans, 20 million child labourers, 1.2 million child prostitutes..... That's just staggering!!

 

 

My two Compassion children live in India, and I am so so grateful that I've been blessed so abundantly by God that I can in a small way bless these two children  so they don't have to be part of those statistics. I love these children so much and to think there are so many just like them still in these awful conditions.... I hope to visit Gokul and Sangita next year, and I know that what I'll see will provoke and challenge me in a way that I can't comprehend.

 

 

So would you please take a moment to pray for the 400 million kids in India. Pray that all those that are orphans, abandoned, labourers, prostitutes, living on the street - that there may be people ready and willing  to step up and intervene in these children's lives. To make a difference to even  just one of them because it will make a world of difference to that one child!

 

 

Our God can do amazing things so lets ask Him to!! 

Recently....

 

Liv and I had lunch (her choice of KFC), enjoyed the sunshine while sitting on the grass, and had a go on the flying fox. (Well Liv did, I abstained from that pleasure. :-)

 

 

 

I've been sewing like crazy - here are just a few samples of what I've made so far. They are all for ages 6-12 months. It's been a great opportunity while wedding flower work is quiet to concentrate on my other love and stock up my etsy store and get ready for summer markets! These and others will be uploaded in the next couple of days hopefully...

 

 

 

 

I've been reading this book after Bethany recommended it so highly. It is pretty hard-hitting. Now I just need time to digest and work out what changes to put in place in my life. More to come on that point....

 

 

What's been filling your days recently??

 

 

 

Kids, Comfort, Clothes, and Coins

I stumbled across an article on the news this morning about a suicide bomber killing 2 soldiers and 10 children in Afghanistan. It started me thinking. First, the media only really cares about stories in "important" countries. If this attack had happened in America, or Britain, or here in Australia, it would have been on the front page of every newspaper and news site. Everyone would have been talking about it. Because it happened in Afghanistan - well who cares?? It won't come up straight away on any news site, not even in the world news section. You'll have to go actively looking if you want to know about it. And why?? Because those in first world countries are somehow more important, have more meaning, need more attention, than those in third world countries?? Is that it? Or is it that the parents of those children that died don't have breaking hearts as all their hopes and dreams for their kids have faded away?? Because everyone living in Afghanistan must be suicide bombers and deserve everything they get??

 

 

To get rid of any confusion, all the above questions I'm sure are utterly and totally false. There are 10 children and 10 families whose world has just been torn apart once again. They must wonder why them? Why were they born in war-torn Afghanistan to a world that isn't safe, that produces heartache, that leaves them scared and confused??

 

But to get away from the media and onto ourselves, what about us? Do we care? Or are we so caught up in our lives that we can't spare a thought for those who live on the same planet as us? And if we do spare a thought, do we just leave it at that - think about it for a split second and don't worry about following it through any more than that?

 

What if those kids were kids in our lives, our children, our siblings, our nieces and nephews? Why are we born here in Australia where 90% of the time we don't run into any danger and not in Afghanistan or Pakistan or any other countries where people fear for their lives daily? Why? Because of God's grace and nothing do with how important we are! That could be us. It could be our hearts that are breaking right now....

 

So what can we do? We probably can't directly help kids in Afghanistan, but there are heaps of other kids in other countries that we can help! There are many organisations that are out there helping families in the poorest and most desperate situations - organisations such as Compassion and Destiny Rescue and plenty of others. But it doesn't even have to be something as "big" as sponsoring a child. It can just be changing our whole mindset to our comfort and possessions. It can be next time we are out shopping and we see some new accessory or clothing item that is pretty that we really like but don't really need - it can be saying no in that situation and giving that money that we could have spent to someone who needs it more.

 

 It could be next time you've just eaten a satisfying meal, and you could really go back and eat just a little bit more not because you're hungry but because it tastes so good. Stop - thank God that you always have enough to eat and think about those who never have enough food to feel satisfied.

 

Change your attitude toward comfort. Jesus never promised us that we would be comfortable in this life. It is not a requirement for life, it is a blessing! So don't see it as your right....  

 

Change your attitude to your money. Don't think about what you can spend with it but ask God to show you what you can give away! Have an open hand and really plead with God to open your heart to see all that you have and all that you could give away! See it as His money!!

 

Think of Jesus who loves children and ask to have a heart like His. Ask to be changed into His image no matter how hard or comfortless that is! 

 

And last but not least, take a moment to pray for these families in Afghanistan that they would be able to experience true peace today - God's peace that can never be taken away!!

 



It Is Safe To Trust

 

Every moment, every event, every happening. It's all in Christ and in Christ we are always safe.

 

When bridges seem to give way, we fall into Christ's safe arms, true bridge, and not into hopelessness. It is safe to trust!

 

We can be too weak to go on because His strength is made perfect in utter brokenness and nail-pierced hands help up. It is safe to trust!

 

 

We can give thanks in everything because there's a good God leading, working all things into good. It is safe to trust!

 

The million bridges behind us may seem flattened to the earthly eye, but all bridges ultimately hold, fastened by nails. It is safe to trust!

 

Each bridge I need cross, from one moment to moment the next, is wholly safe, each leading me deeper into Him and closer to Home.

 

Ann Voskamp

One Thousand Gifts

 

I'm Back (with some book recommendations too!!)

Ok, so it's been at  least 8 months since I last posted, and I'm feeling well and truly out of practice. I'm going to attempt to get back into the swing of blogging though.... 

 

 

So, for my first post back, I'm stealing my sister's idea and posting my list of books you should read before you die!

 

 





1. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

 

 

This book has seriously changed my life like no other book written by a person has!! Ann Voskamp writes in a honest, refreshing way that totally speaks to me! If you want to find the joy in ALL situations, if you want to embrace all the messy, ugly parts of your life, (because we all have them!!)  then read this book! I doubt I'll ever meet Ann Voskamp in real life, but when I get to heaven, I want to give her a big hug and say thank you!!

 

 

2. Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn

 

This book is one that you definitely should not judge by its cover!! The cover may not be that exciting, but the words inside are full of hard-hitting truths from God's word that are hard to get around. I read this book about 2 years ago,  and I've never been able to view money in the same way since!! If you want to be shaken up and convicted in the area of your money, then read this book. It may be a bit uncomfortable, but when we get to heaven, I'm pretty sure all the discomfort will be worthwhile and it won't seem like discomfort at all.

 

3. Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

 

 

I love the way Francis Chan writes - easy to read, humorous, but at the same challenging and convicting. And this book is no exception!! Hell and eternity are scary, scary things for those who don't know God, and too often we sweep these issues under the rug. Very eye-opening!

 

4. Everyday Church by Tim Chester

 

 

I read this book last year during our church camp and nearly couldn't put it down. Very down to earth - just encouraging all of us to get alongside those around us and live "church" everyday and in everyplace. Living the life and talking the talk - it was brilliant!!

 

5. Humility by C. J.  Mahaney

 

 

I read this book for the first time only a couple of weeks ago and found it to be very convicting in the area of pride. I never realised how much my life was defined by pride until I read this book, and now  I'm seeing it in so many things that I do, think, and say!! Very hard-hitting - now just to ask God to use the words spoken and change my life by mortifying my pride! (Now that's a scary prayer...)

 

 

So, there you have it, my 5 books to read before you die. What would your list include??