Day #91: What If?

One of the goals of this project is to create a more Christ-centered home.  Service is very important to us and we would like our children to grow up serving others without a second thought.  I want our children to realize how blessed they are and to truly appreciate what they have.

If you recall, I recently read Rhinestone Jesus by Kristen Welch.  In her book, she spoke of the extreme poverty in Africa and about not only her charitable cause, Mercy House, but of an organization called Compassion International.  Her journey to "yes" began with Compassion International as her family sponsored children in need.

For the past few weeks, I have had this nagging voice in my brain inviting me to look into helping a child in need.  Taking into consideration the economical status of people all over the world, the majority of us in America would be classified as wealthy.  We are privileged enough to buy what we want at the store, see a doctor when we are sick, receive an education, and treat ourselves to everything from flat screen televisions to exotic vacations.  We are blessed.  Plain and simple.

What if we set aside a small percentage each month and sponsored a child?  What if, instead of buying a gift for everyone for the sake of buying a gift, we put that money in a pot and sponsored a child?  (We could share their name, picture, and correspondence as it was received.)  What if we stopped pining after things we really don't need and sponsored a child?  We would all be just fine if we did.  Hmmm, maybe we should!

We are not sure what organization we will work with or the specifics of how we will help, but I see more service in our future.  To raise generous children, we need to model generosity.  We do a decent job of this already, but I think it's time to do a little bit more.