Finally Free

Cornaille Ottis

Here he is! Our new family member...sort of. We're sponsoring him through Compassion International. We should get his info soon and be able to send him a letter and some pictures, the girls are so excited! Look at the little smile on his face, he looks like he's about to get into some mischief. I thought he'd fit right in! He's from Burkina Faso, which is a French speaking African country, so maybe, just MAYBE my years of French will do me some good...
I wanted to say also that our experience with Compassion has been really wonderful and their emphasis on correspondence with each child and in sharing the gospel really resonated with us. We had noticed that our sponsorship through another organization meant that our child was getting "spiritual nurture" and we also noticed that after almost 6 years, we still received all of our letters addressed to "dear sponsor". It didn't even seem like we were really supporting a child. Sometimes I would get her progress report and it would say everything as "he" instead of "she". We had just had enough and we wanted to have a relationship with a child that we knew was really helping THAT child.

We researched Compassion and I read their website from top to bottom. I'm just really impressed. Also, in the few days that we've been sponsoring, I've checked back to see what children are still listed for Burkina Faso and it went from 63 children on Tuesday with 2 kids that had been listed for over 6 months to 55 children with no children being listed over 6 months. Praise God!

I met a friend of a friend in the blogging world who works at Compassion, and within a day she had e-mailed me lots of extra info about Cornaille (the girls call him Corney Ottis) with a large picture of him. Wow. I'm just blown away.

These children, once sponsored, really get a chance for them and their families to be lifted out of poverty both physically and spiritually. The program is run through a local church where the children hear, probably for the first time, about the saving work of Jesus and his care and compassion for them. If my money went just to make sure they heard this message, I would be blessed! But it does so much more for them. The children who aren't allowed to go to children can learn to read. They provide food if necessary, and clothing and school tuition and most importantly, discipleship through bible study. This country is primarily muslim and many children go to muslim school. Only 10% of the population is "Christian" and that is primarily Catholic.

Through compassion I can send small gifts directly to my child and his family. I can even arrange to go meet him! This isn't just a little face on the screen, this is a living, breathing little boy with a spirit and soul that is precious to Christ. I believe that we will be changed just as much, if not more than he will be through this experience.

If you'd like to be part of this amazing experience too, you can go to www.compassion.com or click the link next to this post. Blessings!

Baking and Beading

I've just figured out that 2 of my least favorite things to do with a 2 year old are baking and beading. Oh my, a mess like no other!

I like to give the girls their "ingredients" and let them go crazy mixing and splashing and tasting (oh little 2 year old, don't put that in your mouth! Oh, you did, oh baby! What a face!) My littlest one is just a craft kind of girl, and she has an insatiable taste for watercolor, playdo, baking, beading, knitting (she pretends with me) and so on.

I like to indulge her, but man what a mess! Beads will forever be underfoot and polenta flour will be in between my toes for eternity. And what's better than that? She won't even remember. Man, she better turn out to be a famous artist or I want my money back:)

Just thinking how fast they grow up.

Baby girl will turn 5 soon. It goes so fast!

Finally After Christmas

Many of you who know me and read my ramblings know that December 14th my Grandpa George went home to be with the Lord. Although he was sick, his departure was far too quick for any of us and there is not a day that goes by that I don't miss him. I haven't even been able to write about it until now for fear that I wouldn't do the profound effect he's had on my life justice. So finally, after Christmas, I am able to sit in silence for a few minutes and think out what my Grandpa has meant to me.

Although there are several who probably have much more of a right to be mourning Grandpa right now, I can't help but be amazed at how deeply this has affected me and I need to talk about it. I suppose I'm one of those people who's kind of hard to get along with, a little stubborn, sassy, strong-willed, etc. I speak my mind and when I have an opinion, you mostly know about it. Grandpa always appreciated these things about me, and even though we would spar from time to time and I would get after him about some things, he seemed to like me all the better for it.

Grandpa was the kind of person who just was who he was, there was no need to guess. If he didn't like the way you put his dishes away, he'd growl at you and let you know it. I loved that. He was also someone I could always count on to tell me he loved me and that he was proud of me. I'm not sure why, but he told me. He told me a lot about his years growing up in the hills of Virginia, always with a joke and a laugh. He didn't grow up with a lot, but he enjoyed what he had and he loved life. He seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble, but was always willing to give anyone the shirt off his back.

My favorite picture of the two of us is at my wedding. Although there was so much going on, he still hugged me tight and told me how beautiful I was and how proud he was. Nothing can replace that kind of tangible, unconditional love.

I spent as many hours with him as I could when he was sick, sometimes just laying my head against his hospital bed or recliner and watching TV with him, but he always let me hold his big rugged hand and just be. He didn't need to talk, and neither did I, though we did do a lot of laughing when we watched Jeff Foxworthy one night in hospital with my mom. He was on oxygen and could hardly get a gasp of air, but he was laughing till he shook and we were loving it.

I am so thankful to have had him in my life, and I'm sure there are many who can say the same. There are many who he took care to make feel special. I was blessed to be one of those. To him, I can only say "Thank You, I love you big Grandpa, and I'll see you on the flip side. Say 'hi' to John Wayne for me."

Not that I Needed the Affirmation...

I have been a LONG TIME fan of L.M. Montgomery. I loved Anne of Green Gables from the first time I saw it on Wonder Works, and read just about every book she's written. By far and away my favorite book by her is "The Blue Castle". I read it for the first time in middle school and make a habit of reading it once a year. Although it is a superior novel in many ways to her more popular works, I have never heard of anyone else having read it. Perhaps because it's unique heroine and decidedly different plot are more oriented towards an adult audience and the tone is slightly darker and melancholy. Those are the qualities that endeared it to me. Although I loved Anne, her optimism and spunk just didn't resonate with me. Valancy has none of Anne's charms or talents, and yet, I loved her.

All this to say, I went and read reviews on it today, and nearly every person raved about it. I felt quite justified. I didn't need to have the affirmation, but I felt that I had some fellows on the somber side who loved the 29 year old spinster of a heroine. If you haven't read it, and your inclined to like a good romance (Ryan, I know you like em too!:) Then give it a whirl.

Christmas Musings

I brought out the Christmas decorations today. I am amazed how fast the time flies and how it seems as though I just put them away. The girls are a year older, and I have one more year of memories stored under my Santa hat as I decorate. As I listen to Christmas carols and think of what this last year has held, my tears match the stormy winds outside that blast sideways raindrops against the window. I missed so many Christmases and each one now is dear to me in its own way. As my thoughts go so often right now, I think of Grandpa and how this will likely be his last Christmas with us. My own dear grandpa, what will each holiday season bring without his home for all of us to gather in? His home is hardly beautiful by some standards and maybe a little random and eccentric (kind of like me I guess), and yet, it is the only home I’ve ever known my grandparents in and it holds an infinite amount of precious memories for me. Play times and nap times and story times and game times and dish times and picnic times and times of sorrow and times of joy. Grandma passed away within its walls, and likely Grandpa will too. And once that happens, it will forever change, as all things do. No matter how I pray and hold my breath and wish, they change. Someone else will live in that house and all the eclectic pieces of 1960’s décor will be taken down. The numerous wind chimes, pictures, clocks, piggy banks, coin collections and childhood art projects will be taken down and dispersed among our clan, never to be assembled together again. The sum total of physical possessions for two lives will pass to another generation. I am so thankful for treasure stored in heaven because many of their things have been destroyed by moth and rust and decay.

What will this Christmas hold for us? Will it truly be the time of joy and peace that it should be? I am resolved to ask the Lord daily to make it so for my family, and to help us all focus on the intangible things that truly embody Christmas; the ultimate gift that was given to mankind in the form of a tiny, helpless baby. That baby would grow to be fully God and fully man, dying to take away my guilt and shame and pay the price of the sins of the world. What a gift he has given us, and what better reason to celebrate his birth this year.