Introducing…

Farjana from Bangladesh,

Juan from Peru,

Frankline from Kenya,

and…well, you already know Miichelle!

You all, with your selfless decisions to sponsor so many children as a result of our recent trip to Kenya with Compassion, have inspired our family beyond belief. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for stepping out in action to save so many children from poverty. Thank you for challenging our family to do more.

A handful of you, during the time I was posting about Kenya, encouraged us to think about sponsoring one child for each of our own children, an idea that Shaun Groves had planted in my head a couple of months ago.

So, as a family, we finally sat down and did it. Our children helped select which children we’d begin to sponsor. Miichelle, Farjana, Franklin and Juan are fast becoming household names around here. I’m a really visual person, so I’m having some photos of these great kiddos, as well as some images from Kenya, printed on canvas to hang in our home, to help us never to forget. Our children, Big Mac in particular, saves his money and collects loose pennies in a mug he has designated for Miichelle.

My husband and I have been slowly giving up some of our material possessions since being home from Kenya, in the hopes of being able to sponsor even more children soon. In fact, when we were doing some downsizing with our cell phone company this weekend, my husband said to me, “Let’s figure out how many children could be sponsored with the amount of money we’re saving.”

I very much desire to no longer be ensnared by money, to release our family from our own wealth, as Shaun spoke about at a Kenyan church earlier this month. Our family, with thanks to Kenya and Compassion, has been reevaluating what kind of a legacy we want to leave on this earth. We’re needing to alter course and shift gears to start heading more in the direction we feel God wants us to go. I am so humbled that you guys have stuck around our family as we’ve muddled around, directionlessly at times. And have been even more humbled by the ways you guys act out your faith. Thank you for being patient with us (And, man, God has been so patient with us, too. He’s cool like that, isn’t He?), for inspiring my heart and for your role in leading our family to Miichelle, Farjana, Juan and Franklin.