A Heart of Compassion

I once heard the definition of compassion as: Love in Action. I love that!

We can say we have compassion for others, especially those less fortunate, but the proof is often in the action that follows.

One obvious way of showing love and compassion is to sponsor a child...something I firmly believe EVERY Western Christian should be doing....in fact every Western citizen should be doing.

Last night I had the privilege of hearing Satish Kumar speak about his life in India as a child sponsored through Compassion. Learn more about Compassion here.

Satish is now 22 and working for Compassion, in the same project he was sponsored through for many years. His story is quite incredible, but sadly, not unusual in India - or many other developing countries.

Satish spent his early years selling vegetables on the streets with his father, who would then spend all he had earned on alcohol before heading home to beat his wife. Satish's mother worked in a hot, small shed for 9 hours a day packing pickles into jars and labelling them. For this, she was paid less than a dollar a day and subjected to more beatings from her husband who was embarrassed by his wife working...something that culturally in India was not acceptable. The children often went hungry, resorting to picking through rubbish in the streets or stealing from others. They wore torn clothes, had no shoes and could not afford schooling for all four children.

Satish's father committed suicide when he was just nine, burning the family shack and all their possessions in the process. By then Satish was attending a Compassion project and the staff and local pastor promised to help Satish and his family at this extremely difficult time.

True to their word, they did and with the added sacrifice of Satish's brother quitting school to work for the family, Satish was able to continue at school, graduating first in his class. At 14 he had also given his life to Jesus and noticeable changes were happening. Eventually, through working voluntarily at the project, Satish's mother and sisters became Christians too.

With the grades to go to university but no funds to pay for tuition, Satish looked to find a job after school was finished. But Compassion sponsors again stepped in to provide a 'miracle' for Satish.

I love this part of his story! Through Compassion's leadership development program, a 19 year old girl in the US sponsored Satish through his university studies. 19!!! And phenomenally, this 19 year old was working for 4 years to pay for the cost of Satish's sponsorship, rather than going to university herself. Her plan was to begin her degree once Satish had completed his and she could then afford to pay for her own studies. Now THAT is COMPASSION!

Satish graduated with Honors in a business degree and worked with 2 large companies, where his wages far eclipsed anything he had every seen or earned before. But God has called Satish back to his home community to work with Compassion to love and encourage and help children.

His story is powerful. It is challenging too. It reminds me that around $40 a month makes an astounding difference in the life of a child, his/her family, community and nation. $40....a haircut, a new shirt, 2 movie tickets with popcorn and a drink, weekly 'treats' in the grocery trolley....

I urge you to consider joining with Compassion or like-agencies to sponsor a child. Your love, money, prayers and letters won't cost you much time, effort or energy, yet they will have an impact for Eternity.

A heart of compassion.....how's your heart rate today?

The 4 Ws

In preparing for Biblical Studies classes in recent weeks, I have been garnering some inspiration from Max Lucado's book: Just Like Jesus. The unit I am teaching is called 'A Heart Like His' and it's all about looking at the life of Jesus and what the Bible says about Him and seeing how we can develop and live those attitudes and actions ourselves. I am enjoying it...hope the girls are too.

Anyway....in the 'God-intoxicated Heart' chapter, Max suggests we can practice living in God's presence by weaving the 4 Ws into your daily lives. I wonder if some of you do this already? If not, perhaps an outline of the W's may help you today to connect with Him and 'just like Jesus'....walk in His presence this day.

Max says we need to talk to God often throughout the day....not just in 'saying our prayers' as we drift off to sleep. A helpful reminder for doing that is found in the 4 Ws....


Give God your Waking thoughts.....as you open your eyes in the morning...pray! Greet God....tell Him how glad you are for the gift of today....tell Him about your plans....ask Him what His may be for you. I did this in a really concerted way today and I left bed with a smile. And that's really something for someone who is not a fan of mornings!

Give God your Waiting thoughts....Max says we need to be silent with God and allow Him to speak. He talks about waiting on God, rather than always rushing ahead with all we have to do and praying that God tags along with us. I also link Waiting thoughts in with the Whispering ones below.

Me in a period of 'waiting' when lots of 'whispering' was happening:)

Give God your Whispering thoughts...the quiet 1 or 2 sentence prayers I can pray anytime during my day, but especially when I am still and waiting, make up my Whispering thoughts.  This 'waiting' time is the time when I am in line...on hold...driving to a destination.... It's anytime I am not especially active...just waiting. It's probably a better use of my time to talk to God at that time, rather than spend time stewing on how annoying waiting can be and wishing the person in front of me didn't have quite so many groceries in their trolley.


Give God your Waning thoughts....as you settle into bed after your day, talk to God. Thank Him for all that was. Commit into His care and keeping those things that are concerning you. Pray for rest and peace. And then....sleep easy.

So....there you have it...the 4 Ws that might help you walk more closely with Him today. I am trying to be more conscious about being aware of God's presence and just maybe, remembering to give God my thoughts in those W moments will help.

Do Everything

Yesterday I posted on the little things my life consists of and how so much goes unnoticed....by humans. I fully believe that God sees it all:) Oh my, that is a scary thought!

My sister sent me a link to Steven Curtis Chapman's new song Do Everything.

How timely that this song fell in my lap to remind me that there is purpose in all that I do and the result is so worth the effort.....I can make Him smile.

Have a listen (click the link in the song title above)....read the lyrics...and be encouraged today that what you do matters...all of it!

And if you want to hear where the idea of the song came from, have a listen to SCC himself! he reminds us that there is no separation between secular and sacred.


When we walk with God He makes it ALL matter.


So today, as you wash and cuddle and cook and post and catch-up and read and help and rest and drive and clean and.......do it with eyes and heart open to hear God speak and see Him smile:)

Today I.....

...cleaned the bathroom and toilet. I mean really cleaned them...even scrubbed the floor.

Five hours later though....you really can't tell I out in all that effort.

Today I.....

...washed a load of our clothes.

But now that they are dry and off the line; folded and in the cupboard....you really can't tell I did the washing.

Today I....

...prepared an early dinner for j.

Within a few short hours, there will be no evidence that I made a meal.

So much of what I do in a day goes unnoticed....and I am happy with that. So much of what I do in a day has no real impact on anyone except my family.....and that's okay. So much of what I do in a day is a labour of love.....without any recognition from anyone.

Today I.....

....went the library and struck up a conversation with a total stranger.

That stranger is now a new friend and I even found a way to help her and her boys.

Today I.....

.....hopefully made a difference, a positive difference, in the life of someone....more than one.

Today I ....

.....put a smile on His face.

What Do You Do When It's All Too Much?

Don't get me wrong....this post's title is not meant to be a cry for help. I am fine.

I am just pondering life and the way we fill it with 'good' busyness. But even as we do, we have a sense that we are doing too much and feeling overwhelmed....frustrated.....anxious.......

A wise man today reminded me about Mary and Martha - 2 sisters who did things a little differently the day Jesus came to visit. You can read their story here.

One fussed and fretted over all she had to do and the other sat with Jesus, listening to Him speak. Jesus commended the one who was still and listening, not the one who was 'too busy' serving to spend time with Him.

That's one teaching of Jesus that I still need to learn well. But it did prompt me today to consider my response to His call to spend time with Him....daily.

And to think about how my family's schedule looks in terms of busyness.

And to consider my response to those feelings that so often pop up when I do have too much 'busyness' in my life.

Today I give myself a little pat on the back. Rather than continuing to ponder the long 'to do' list and start to stress and rather than crying or quitting or calling a sister or Mum or friend to vent.....I simply talked to God about it. I told Him how I felt and I asked for His help.

And as I said at the beginning, I am fine.

24 hours to help

Hi readers.

Crystal from MoneySavingMom is doing something pretty amazing. For every person who changes their computer homepage to Yahoo for 2 days, she is making a $1 donation to Compassion. Seems like they're up to over $600 already and that's on top of the $10 000 Yahoo gave to Compassion last week. Yay!

If you'd like to be a part of the giving, all you have to do is visit this MSM post. Crystal has easy to follow instructions for changing the home page and "voila"....you have helped children in crisis.

Please consider.

Sick

Being sick is nothing like delightful. It's just plain hard.

What's harder is when the one who's sick is your little nearly-10 month old.

Little j has woken up this morning....mega early.....with a runny nose and cough and that look of  generally feeling miserable.

And there's nothing I can do to make him all better...now!

So in the midst of snot and tears and eye rubbing and nose wiping, I think PATIENCE and CUDDLES will be the best medicine.

I can do cuddles, but I struggle with patience. I like things done...NOW! I like things done...MY WAY!

So in this little season of sickness, I will ask God to give me patience. And I love that He answers those prayers.

To me, that's one of the very best things about being a Jesus-follower....He sets the example but He also gives us the power and ability to do like-wise.

So....if today your challenge is not a lack of patience, but a lack of peace or joy or courage or self-control or goodness or.......don't stew on your 'lack' but go to the One who has it all in abundance and ask Him to share.

He'll be delighted to.

Love Changes Everything

I spent an hour or so this morning getting pretty worked up in a lighting and then a tile shop.

By worked up I mean.....stressed, tense, frustrated. And that's not good when you are trying to make rational decisions about lighting and flooring for a new house.

The tension and frustration were coming from knowing I had a tiny window of opportunity to shop in....j was sleeping at home but not for long...and from the fact that in both stores there were soooooooooooooooooooooo many options....what to choose? And how ridiculous are those prices? And why would anyone want those colours...ever? And why is that salesman being so pushy? And.....

Anyway, a short time later I was home again and j was fed and I suggested we try again. Not because I had dealt with any of those 'issues' I had mentioned, but because on the way home J had said, 'Thank you. It's great to be taking on this big project with you my beautiful wife.'

Appreciation......a compliment.......a look to the future.....a reminder that I don't do life alone and an expression of love.

5 precious gifts all wrapped up in 2 short sentences. That's all it took for me to change my perspective, get a grip and move forward.

How powerful our words and actions can be. Will you remember to use them wisely and well today?