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
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This is it! The moment you’ve all been waiting for–the final installment of our 4 part series, “How to Be Rich.” OK, really it’s just my Sunday sermon recap.

And each Sunday before service, my husband and I love to read the bulletin because they’ve been putting funny and interesting statistics about money on the back. Here’s my favorite from this week:

Microsoft CEO Bill Gates has more wealth than
the bottom 45% of American households combined.
(according to the Global Policy Forum)

Doesn’t that make you shudder?! OK, back to the sermon–

A little background: God has blessed me with more than I need. I am rich. I will not trust in my riches but in the One who richly provides. Since I have more, I will do more and I will give more. Based on 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

This week’s title was: Diversify. If I quite understood finances, I’m sure I’d get that title and find it amusing. I don’t, so we’ll have to move on. Have you ever felt guilty about the amount of stuff you have? When you see those pictures, or drive by homeless people or just hear of someone down and out? Sometimes this guilt drives us to give…kind of making you feel better about yourself because you handed someone a $5 bill. This is the wrong way to react. We shouldn’t even feel guilty about what we have because no one feels guilty managing someone else’s [read: God's] stuff. And if we view our wealth in the correct way, as God’s money that He’s letting us manage, we won’t feel guilty. Remember, GOD PROVIDES us with everything for our enjoyment (1Timothy 6:17)!

Guilt should not motivate us to give. We should give generously because when we do, “we will lay up treasure as a firm foundation for the coming age…(vs.19)” Giving generously is not just about NOW–about the needy guy, your church’s finances or whatever–it’s about eternity! God’s whole kingdom is a paradox; die to live, serve to be first and give to receive. When we give, we are laying up a treasure–FOR OURSELVES in Heaven! We are basically doing something eternal for our lives in heaven by giving to someone on earth today!

In Luke 12, Jesus tells a parable about a rich man. He continued to be blessed and his wealth grew. In fact, he had so many crops he couldn’t fit them in his barns. So, he decided to tear down his barns and make new barns that would hold his crops. That night he died and God called him a fool for storing up things for himself and not being rich toward God. Most of us will run out of time before we run out of money. Why not spend the time we have becoming rich toward God by giving generously?

1 Timothy 6:19 ends with this phrase, “so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” When we know we are rich and trust God to provide, then give as only a rich person can, we will lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven AND we will take hold of the life that is truly life.

Let’s look at every dollar, every check, every monetary gift not as something to stuff in our barn, but as something that has eternal implications. Then we will take hold of the life that is truly life!

Here’s our completed confession: God has blessed me with more than I need. I am rich. I will not trust in my riches but in the One who richly provides. Since I have more, I will do more and I will give more. And everyday I will view my wealth through the lens of eternity so I may truly have life!

Monday’s Sunday is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Week 3 of the How to Be Rich series. Are you so excited? Well, you should be! Today’s sermon was really really good. I can’t believe how hard core the pastor was today!

Remember, we’re all rich. Our wealth comes from God. Not from us. This series is based on 1 Timothy 6:17-19. This week was from verse 18, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

Let me transliterate this for you for the purposes of our “lesson”: Command those who have more than enough to do good as only a rich person can do. Be generous as only a rich person can. Be willing to share as only a rich person can.

As rich people, we have the opportunity no, the privelege to DO MORE for God! And we should. You hear about how much money celebrities give away. I remember seeing Matthew McConaughey on Oprah. He had put one of his cars up on ebay. I think it sold for $75,000 and all the money went to Katrina victims. While that is a lot of money, Matthew made $8 million on the movie Sahara! (I’m not saying he’s not generous, I have no idea how he is personally. He may give away 50% of his income, I’m just using this as an example. But I’m not going to mention that he didn’t give the money, just the car!) But the way Oprah praised him you’d have thought he was giving away cars to everyone in the United States! Our pastor made the point that the richer we get the less generous we are. It’s easy to give ten cents from a dollar, but it’s a lot harder to give away 1,000 from $10,000 even though it’s the same percentage!

As rich people, we have more free time, more money to spend and so we naturally think of things do do for ourselves: more vacations, more clothes, more movies, more food, more more more! Instead, let’s think about how we can do more for others. It’s the idea of giving others our best and top portion, not our leftovers.

The pastor encouraged us to do two things:

1. Find an organization or two that is doing Kingdom work and PREDETERMINE to give your time. Don’t just do the one Saturday when they beg at church the week before. Make a decision to give your time to them on a regular basis. Your heart will begin to grow with them. You will be connected to them and won’t be able to imagine not giving your time.

2. Be a percentage giver. God asks for a mere 10 percent. Can you do more? Can you predetermine to give another 5% to an organization that is promoting the name of Jesus? I know we can.

Then he said something that he says a lot, “take advantage of your wealth and leverage it”. He uses that word all the time. He always encourages us to leverage our skills, our position, our jobs and now our money for the Lord. To use what God has given you to show Jesus to others.

When a unbeliever looks at a generous Christian, they will say, “Why? Why do you give every Saturday to them? You actually gave your whole spring break to work with little kids in an apartment complex? You give how much to homeless people? Why?!” And that generous, rich Christian will be able to say, “How can I not be rich in good deeds when God has richly given me His Son, Jesus to die for me?” WOW! This is about more than money. It’s about using everything in our power to tell others about the great love God has for us.

We ended by adding to our confession, “God has blessed me with more than I need. I am rich. I will not trust in my riches but in the One who richly provides. Since I have more, I will do more and I will give more.”

What a positive spin on a topic that can be so avoided or preached against. I know God has richly blessed me. I want to do more and give more for Him!

Dollar Cost Living is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Today began a 4 part series at church. This week was the intro lesson based on 1 Timothy 6:17a. I say “a” because the pastor just used the very beginning of the verse to make a point:

“Command those who are rich in this present world…”

Go back. Read it again…I’ll wait…now ask yourself, “Is that verse talking to me? Am I rich?” I know how I’d answer that question–heck no! I’m not rich. We’re making the most money we’ve ever made right now but we’re not rich. So, it’s easy for me to skip over this verse or the tons of other money verses in the Bible, because I don’t feel rich.

So, what is rich? Here’s some funny examples the pastor gave:

• people who have so much money, they eat out whenever they feel like it. Then because they ate too much they pay every month for a gym membership…that they never use!
• people who have so much money they replace their perfectly good refrigerator with another refrigerator just like it! They replace counters, with new counters!
• people who have so much money they can fill their closets with clothes then say, “I don’t have anything to wear!”

Is that you? I think we still have a gym membership in Bham. Anybody want to use it?

You’ve heard the statistics like 1 out of 5 people in the world live on less than $1 a day. So, when we see the word “rich” in this verse we need to listen up! The Bible’s talking about us. If you’ve got enough money to get online and read this…you’re probably RICH. Yikes!

The message didn’t end with a “gotcha” or anything–it was just kind of a set up to the rest of the series. But we ended with repeating this, “God has blessed me with more than I need. I’m rich.” And you know, it’s true. I’ve got more than I need. So for the next 3 weeks, we’ll be learning to be responsible, generous and wise with the wealth He’s given us. Or I guess I could just read 1 Timothy 6:17B to see what I should do next!

(I found this at Shannon‘s, not at church. But you just have to see it!)

How To Be Rich is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.