Nope, not the one in my tummy. (Still haven’t had the first ultrasound. I go next week.) We got our Compassion girl. I don’t even want to think about how I posted about sponsoring a kid over two weeks ago and I went to a spa and a cruise in between…

Anyway, yesterday Les, Lydia and I sat down to look through some of the pictures of kids needing sponsorship on Compassion’s website. I told Lydia that these little kids need our help because some of them don’t have clothes or food and they don’t know Jesus. I told her we’d pray for them, send money and even write letters. She was very interested!

She pointed to so many and would say, “I want that little girl!” Then she found some dollar bills on the table (along with 50,000 other things that need to be put away) and was trying to put the money inside the computer for “the kids”. How cute!

When we finally picked out a 5 year old girl, Alizeta from Burkina Faso (see adorable picture below!) and I was about to put my credit card information in, Lydia said, “I want a little boy, too!” I told her when our new baby gets here, we’ll sponsor another little kid, too.

I can’t find all her info again online, they’ll be sending us a big packet all about her soon. But I do remember she just had her birthday this month, she likes to play hide and seek and play with dolls. She lives with her mom and dad who are both sometimes farmers. I’m pretty sure she had at least 2 siblings and one of her responsibilities is caring for them. (She just turned 5!!)

If you look over to the left, I’ve got a new banner you can click to sponosor a child through Compassion. I chose that one because it’s something I say all the time. I WANT to change MY perspective of poverty. Go ahead and click around, you might see a little kid you can help, too!

If you haven’t read the Compassion Uganda Blog Tour posts, please do! (Start with Shannon & Sophie!) We’re already praying for little Alizeta and believing that our measly $32 will have an eternal impact on her life.

We’ve got a new little girl! is a post from: ohamanda.com

I usually keep up to date with Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer and Sophie aka Boomama. And I knew (and was insanely jealous) that they were going to Uganda with Compassion International. Live blogging about the lives of children who need love and Jesus? That’s my kinda gig.

For whatever reason, I missed out on their posts when they left for Uganda. I guess it was when my internet was acting all selfish. I glanced at their sites the other day but knew I didn’t have time to sit down and spend the time I needed with them. Now it’s Saturday, Les is playing golf and Lydia is napping. I knew it was time for me to visit Uganda.

I have now read all of Shannon‘s posts, all of Sophie‘s and most of the rest of the Uganda Bloggers.

And I’ve been sobbing.

Sobbing because although I KNOW that there is poverty and children living without parents and without food and without medical care and WITHOUT Jesus, I still complain about my bed. I still buy an extra set of dishes when they’re 50% off at Target. I still dislike Lydia’s plush carpet in her playroom. I still wish I had another pair of jeans that fit!

And I know being guilted into caring about poverty is not the point. But you know what? It is! If we don’t know about the poverty, we’ll never do anything about it! Playing on our emotions is the right thing to do! We are SO blessed and SO rich here it would be hard for even the most selfless of people to focus on someone 8000 miles away!

I heard an awesome quote from Sara Groves about this very thing. (It’s not a direct quote, it’s just from memory.)

When I see tragedy in the world, I no longer wonder, “Where is God?” I wonder, “Where are God’s people?”

WHERE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE?

I think most of us sit here and blame God for poverty. We do. We think if God was really loving, He’d do something about AIDS and hunger.

But what are we doing?

What are we doing?!

This is one of those things that can go overboard. Les and I have enough money we could sell half of everything we owned, including one of our cars and still live like kings in comparison to the kids in Uganda. I’m not suggesting God is expecting us to do that. (He might be…) But the point is, we CAN do SOMETHING.

And as soon as Les gets home we’re going to search through the faces of the children who need us. They need our money. Period. They need food, they need love, they need support, they need Jesus. And my 32 bucks a month can bring that to them.

THIRTY-TWO DOLLARS.

I think it will be 32 holy dollars. And I do not say that lightly or flippantly. I think God will use that money to make an eternal difference in the life of a child.

Please go read the blogs. Look at the pictures. Watch the videos. Listen.

The One In Which I Sob is a post from: ohamanda.com

Hello. Hellooooo! I know why Oprah won’t answer her phone. I have 9 Oprah shows tivoed! I haven’t watched all season! She’s mad at me. So, I sat down and watched one today.

It was the episode with Bill Clinton. He was there promoting his book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World. And really that’s what the show was about. And I don’t know how to say it but…I liked him. I did.

The first guest (besides the former president) was a teenager named Kendall. She adopted a child with AIDS from Africa through one of those organizations like Compassion International or World Vision. Then as Kendall lay in the hospital having 2 liver transplants, she asked that in lieu of flowers, money be sent to kids in Africa. She’s started Kids Caring 4 Kids an organization that has literally saved an entire village in Africa.

Andre Agassi was next. I didn’t know he was a giver. He has a public charter school in a poor section of Las Vegas that is making a difference in the lives of kids. He said (and I kinda quote), “Tennis was just the platform to get me to this stage in my life.” Wow! He considers his tennis career the catapult that brought him to kids in Las Vegas?!

And now my new couple to admire, Matt and Jessica Flannery. They began and run kiva.org. A website organization that hooks lenders (like you) up with entrepreneurs in the developing world (places like Afghanistan and Nigeria). You lend money, they make peanut butter or sandals. They pay you back AND then (the kicker) your money goes back into kiva-cash and you donate it to someone else! These loans change lives and end poverty!

Then, of course, Oprah talked about her Angel Network.

And y’all. I’m jealous. I’m jealous that I did not think of one of these organizations. These people are changing the world–at least changing the world for one person!

I feel inspired and encouraged. I’m a Christian–I should want to do more than even AIDS medicine and money for business. Giving is a way to get God’s love to people around the world. I just can’t put it into words. I do want to do more. I want to give and encourage others to give.

(Maybe that’s how I’ll finally get to see Oprah, not by calling her reservation line, but by giving away some money changing the world!)

Cheerful Giver, Indeed is a post from: ohamanda.com