The Best Meal You Never Eat

What is your absolute favorite meal? Most of mine come from my mom's kitchen. My mom is a great cook and knows how to make a mean broccoli-and-rice chicken casserole and whoo-boy is her manicotti delicious!

Growing up I ate some darn good food from my mama's kitchen. The thought never crossed my mind that it was a privilege to have a favorite meal, because I never worried about where my next meal would come from. The idea of not having enough food never even occurred to me. 

But for more than 140 million children around the world - the idea of having enough food is completely foreign. Hunger is a daily reality to them. And a favorite meal? This idea would be strange too - if they get to eat at all, they certainly don't get to be picky about what meal is their favorite.

Now when I say "hunger", I'm not talking missing a meal here and there, or having a little rumble in their tummies occasionally. I'm talking severe malnourishment that causes swollen stomachs, hair loss, skin discoloration, and reduces the body's ability to fight disease and infection. And every year, for 6 million children, this kind of hunger will also cause their death. (source: www.un.org)

Numbers like that are not only incomprehensibly tragic, but can feel overwhelming and debilitating. But the good news is that there are people doing something about it - and you can be one of them. Compassion International's One Meal One Day campaign is raising money to intervene in the lives of some of these severely malnourished children and you can be a part of the impact.

The idea is simple: give up your favorite meal between now and November 6, 2013, and donate the money you would have spent on that meal to One Meal, One Day. Easy right? And yet the impact on the children who receive food because of your gift will be exponential. (donate here)

Perhaps you're wondering, I thought Compassion's sponsor program helped these kids - why do they need more money? Good question, and here's the answer: Compassion's sponsorship program makes an unbelievable impact around the world by rescuing children from poverty, but there are many times when a child comes to the Compassion centers so malnourished that the funds from monthly sponsorships are not enough to meet the child's needs. Also, in the case of famine, natural disasters, or in emergency situations, the child many need more intervention than the sponsorship alone can provide. The money raised through One Meal One Day will help meet these extraordinary nutritional needs.

And getting involved is so easy. I'm willing to bet that if you are reading this (with - ahem - a computer//tablet/smartphone and an Internet connection), then you aren't worried about where your next meal is coming from and you probably can afford to skip one without much detriment to your health. But the money you would have spent on that one meal will stretch so much further in a poverty stricken country - providing far more than just one meal for one person.

One Meal One Day would be an amazing project for a family with older kids to tackle together. Talk about an tangible lesson - giving up one meal and experiencing a twinge of hunger so that other kids around the world might have the nutrition they need to live. That's a life-lesson your kids won't soon forget.

Or how about this idea: host a dinner party for your friends but serve beans and rice (a staple in most third-world countries). Then, donate the money you would have spent on steaks, side-dishes, desserts, and drinks. Plus, you'll have an awesome conversation-starter for your friends.

The main point is this: it only takes a little to make a huge difference in the lives of these kids. They need someone to step in and say, "You're important - you matter." All it takes is skipping one meal. Will you join me in the fight against hunger? If so, donating is just as simple - you can visit my fundraising page here. If you do join One Meal One Day, please come back here to my blog and tell me how it went - I'd love to hear about your experience!

Hungry for change? Let's do this thing!

Ugandan Mamas and Me

Truth be told, my spirit has been a little stir-crazy since traveling to Uganda and getting all pumped about loving the poor through action, then coming home and having twins and realizing the "loving the poor" thing might need to take a back seat for a little bit as I care for my babies. Well, not a back seat exactly. I still sponsor two sweet girls in Uganda through Compassion International and we still give to a number of organizations that are doing some amazing things to help make a lasting change for the poor. So I guess I'm not taking a backseat, I'm just not as hands-on as I would like to be because I've got both hands full with the two little ones God has blessed me with. Maybe it should be easy for me to let that be enough right now. But it just isn't. There is too much suffering going on around the world and too much comfort in my own life and it just doesn't sit well with me. I have to do something more.

As I study my Bible, I'm finding again and again that for someone who claims to love Jesus, loving others - especially the poor - is a huge, non-negotiable response. A natural, overwhelming desire from a heart changed by Christ (don't believe me? check out this verse). 

I don't get (or want) a "veto" card on the caring for the poor thing just because I'm a mom with young babes. Motherhood is a huge calling, a lot of work and a precious responsibly, don't get me wrong, but even the "Proverbs 31 Woman" cared for the poor while caring for her own family ("She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy" - verse 20). But there is no denying that it's hard right now with the twins being so young. 

I find myself dreaming of the day when I can involve my kiddos in loving-the-poor-projects and use those opportunities to teach them about the love God has for the world and how we can show His love to others through the way we live. Those will be incredible moments that I will cherish and that I eagerly look forward to, but those times are still a few years out. 

So I started thinking - what talents/abilities/opportunities do I have right now that I could leverage to love the poor? Where can I start right now? And after a little planning, I am super excited to share with you what I've come up with.

You may (or may not) know that I make and sell beaded crosses. One of them (the one pictured on the upper left of my blog) is made with recycled magazine beads from Uganda and each time that cross sells, I give 50% of the proceeds to Amazima Ministries which provides approximately sixty meals for a child living in the slums of Uganda. But I also have many other styles of crosses, so I thought, why not use those crosses to help the poor as well? So I've opened an online boutique through Etsy (which is something I've been dragging my feet on until I got inspired by this idea) and 25% of all of my profits will be donated to Kiva - an organization that provides small, low-interest loans to help those living in extreme poverty start a business. (By the way, the repayment rate of these loans is incredibly high: 99% of those receiving a loan pay in back in full.)

One unfortunate misconception about the poor is that they are poor because they are lazy. However, more often than not, the poor are extremely hard-working. They simply lack the hope and opportunity to lift their family out of poverty. A micro-loan of just $100 would give someone living in extreme poverty the capital needed to start a business and begin using their talents and abilities to provide for their family. Giving them not only sustainable income, but confidence, empowerment, a sense of achievement and HOPE. All things that can break the cycle of poverty and be a catalyst for lasting change for the poor. Not a temporary hand-out, but a life-altering hand-up.

Here's my favorite part of this venture: I'll be providing loans specifically to working mothers in Uganda. As a working-from-home mother myself, who also happens to love the people and country of Uganda, it is a perfect match. (My heart just fluttered a little bit even thinking about it.) 

Another reason I chose mothers specifically is this: I love adoption (I have two adopted sisters whom I adore), but I would love even more for a mama to be able to keep and provide for her babies instead of having to give them up for adoption because she can't make enough money to feed them. I would love for kids not to be orphaned by AIDS because the only available way for their mother to make a living was to sell her body. A Kiva loan can change these things and keep babies the arms of their mamas. Be still my mother's heart. And my poor-loving heart for that matter. ::flutter flutter::

If you are interested in what I'm doing, here's the link to my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/jhcraftynotions

And here's a little peek of a few of the crosses I have available:

Thanks for listening to my excited ramblings. Creativity, helping the poor, mamas and their kids, Uganda:  this kind of stuff just gets my heart pumping!!  

But I don't want to be a mommy blog...

There is nothing wrong with mommy blogs. There are a number of really good mommy blogs that I enjoy reading and have gained some much-needed encouragement and wisdom from. Moms have a lot of really great (and entertaining) things to share sometimes. And after just one short month of being a stay-at-home mom, I can totally see how mommy blogs are a sometimes essential bridge to social sanity for the women reading and writing them. It's just that I never wanted this space - my little spot to reflect, share and talk about topics that I find meaningful, fun or interesting - to morph into a mommy blog where I only ever talk about my kids (not that my kids aren't meaningful, fun or interesting to me... awkward silence...).


The thing is though, my life itself has morphed into a world predominately conquered by my kids and it's hard to come up with anything interesting to write about that doesn't revolve around the twins (who, while lovable, adorable five-months-olds, are not all that interesting). On top of that: mommy-brain is a doozy and holding down a thought long enough to wrestle it into a fully-form sentence seems nearly impossible most of the time.


So here my blog sits - unable to assert itself as much at the moment because it's run by a gal trying to grasp her new identity and adjust to being a full-time, stay-at-home wife and mother. Poor blog. Do not loose hope my digital friend, you will rise again. Someday, ponderous tidbits and amusing stories will once again flow across your htlm-coded pages. Cling to that little blog. Cling to it like boogers on a baby's nose (dang it - mommy blogging).


So yeah. The adjustment to my new career as a nanny/laundress/cook/maid/mom/wife or what is now considered the p.c. term - "a home manager" - is slow going. Some days I absolutely love it. Some days I just want to pawn my wee babes off on anyone who is willing to take them for a few hours (days??) so I can go on a mental vacation and spend some quiet, quality time just me and Joe (as in, Mr. Cup O'). But every day, no matter what the joys, stresses or boredoms, I am truly grateful to be home and able to pour more energy into my husband and kids. It's a blessing. And while I'm struggling with wondering if the daily tasks of a stay-at-home mama is "enough" in light of so many needs and troubles in this world (which press so heavily on my heart), I am praying that God will show me how I can best serve Him and others without neglecting the new responsibilities He has place lovingly in my arms.


This time last year I was on my way to Uganda, Africa to love and serve some beautiful, precious people. A big chunk of my heart still pulls me towards them - to their needs and to their inspiring hope and faith in God. I don't want to forget them as I care for my own. While tending to my two small babies, I don't want to forget the mother somewhere who is struggling to feed and provide for her little ones. While loving my hard-working husband, I don't want to forget about the family whose husband/father is without a job, or worse, whose husband/father has abandoned them or been taken by disease or hunger. I do not want to get so caught up in loving my own that I neglect loving others. Caring for my family is a wonderful gift and calling, but it is causing tension as I navigate this new season. My mom/wife heart and my justice/mercy heart are trying to figure out how to live under the same roof.


At the core of all this is the fact that I don't want my sons growing up thinking the world is only about them. I want them to truly love others more than themselves and deeply care about the poor around the world. And I have to teach them this by my own actions. Tension exists here because how do I deeply love others while also having enough left in me to deeply love this little family God has blessed me with? I don't know yet. My "doing" in regards to the mercy/justice side of things might be in a resting season for a little while during this tender time of caring for my little ones and if that is the case, I have to learn to be okay with that.


Still... if I start writing less and less about orphans and the poor and more and more about boogers and diapers, somebody please hack into my account and put this blog out of its misery. Thank you.

The Power of Words (Goal #57: Complete)

More progress on my Project 101 in 1001 list. Read about my journey here.

Goal #57:  Write my Compassion sponsor children once a month for a year - COMPLETE

For the past year, I have participated in Compassion International's "Second Fridays" - an initiative that challenges sponsors to write their children on the second Friday of every month. I blogged before about how life-changing it is to these kids to receive letters from their sponsors and how crushed they are when they don't hear from them (read that post here).


After meeting my two sponsor girls, Rachael and Barbra, this past spring, it has been an even greater joy to correspond regularly with them. Though this goal is completed, I will absolutely continue my monthly letters to these precious girls. They are such a gift in my life and it is privilege to be a voice of encouragement and truth to them. 


If you sponsor a child through Compassion or similar organization, please pick up a pen and send your child a letter. You can never fully understand how powerful your words of encouragement are to them. (Watch this awesome interview of former Compassion sponsor children to get a glimpse at the difference your words can make.)

Goal #65 Complete: Birthday Giving

More progress on my Project 101 in 1001 list. Read about my journey here.    

Goal #65: For my birthday one year, ask for cash and donate it to House of James Orphanage - COMPLETE 

Generally speaking, I enjoy gifts (especially when they are made or thought-out with me in mind by a perceptive giver). But I say "generally" because even though I like getting gifts, I often have a hard time accepting them without regret when I look at my own vast abundance in comparison the deep needs of the world around me. It seems so frivolous in light of the suffering of so many. At the same time, I have to understand that people enjoy giving gifts and sometimes that is even their love language (my husband for example), so to demand that they stop can be hurtful to a well-meaning, loving gifter.

More recently, especially since last Christmas, the gifts that bring the most joy to my heart are those which also bless someone in need. So for my birthday this year, I asked for something that I felt would bring the most thrill to my heart - donations on my behalf to House of James (an orphanage in the Ukraine that many of my friends and family in Tucson are involved with).

House of James (HOJ) was founded by a young man named Sean who had been content to spend his life getting rich, partying and "living the dream". He was young, good-looking and what the world would call successful. Somehow, his dad convinced Sean take a mission trip with him and visit some orphanages in the Ukraine. Sean was absolutely broken and transformed by what he saw. Not only did he give his life to Christ during that trip, he became overwhelmed with a desire to do something to help the vast population of Ukrainian children with no one to care for them. When Sean returned to America, he sold everything he owned, paid off all of his debts and moved to the Ukraine to open a home for orphans.

House of James now runs two, soon-to-be-three, homes for orphaned and abandoned children in the Ukraine. Each "family home" has a set of foster parents and HOJ strives to create a warm, loving, home-like environment for the forgotten children in their care. 

From the HOJ website: "Our vision, as we grow, is to open up various family homes located throughout Ukraine and even the world. It is a vital part of our ministry to show orphans and the forgotten children the same love and compassion that Christ gives." Learn more about HOJ here.

(Sean, pictured center, with some of the HOJ kids)

I received a very kind, personal thank you message from Sean letting me know that my birthday donations would be going towards the registration costs for the new HOJ van. A van that will not only ease the transportation burdens of the foster parents, but also be available to transport the children to a hospital in case of an emergency.

Happy birthday to me - my heart is very blessed. :-) 

Verse on the HOJ website: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” - James 2:14-17 

Uganda Stories: Beautiful Feet

Yep. I think it's high time I start sharing some more stories from our trip to Uganda (back in March...). Sorry for the long delay - I'm still processing the time we spent there. Not to mention I've had something(s) on my mind and growing in my belly that have served as a major distraction. 

* * *

One very special night at Canaan Children's Home (the orphanage we lived at in Jinja, Uganda) was spent on our knees before some beautiful, precious kids.

A couple on our trip heard that many of the children living at Canaan did not have shoes for school. Most of them only have sandals and flip-flops (though the majority of the time they run around barefoot). This generous couple decided then and there to order enough black, patten leather shoes for each school-age child at Canaan to have their very own pair (and dress socks to go with them). This open-hearted act inspired our team to make a special evening out of giving the shoes to the kids - a way to bless the them beyond just a material gift (which was still a huge deal to them).  

So, during our last evening together, we gathered all of the school-age children in the open-air chapel. At the front we had a few chairs set up, along with basins of water and towels. As each child's name was called, they came to the front, received their new shoes and took a seat in one of the chairs. Our team members then washed their feet and helped them try on their shoes. You should have seen their beaming faces (the kids and the team members)! Pictures don't do the moment justice, but I'll share a few to try and give you just a glimpse.

Kneeling before those kids - holding and washing those dirty, scabbed, precious feet - was a very special experience for everyone involved. It was special for the children to be honored in such a way and an honor for us to be able to wash their feet and show them Christ-like love. 

My only regret (one shared by our team when we realized what had happened) was that, because some of the shoes had not been delivered in time, not all the kids got shoes that evening. But that is not where the real regret lies. 

Although the children with the missing shoes were assured they would not be forgotten, we did forget them in one way and it breaks my heart to remember. Not only did those kids not get presented with their shoes that night, they also did not get their feet washed. Why we didn't think to wash all of their feet - shoes or no shoes - I don't know. Perhaps we were just too caught up in our "assembly line" of name/shoes/wash that we missed the longing looks of the kids who didn't get shoes or the gift of having their feet washed. Perhaps we let our American "get it done and get it done right" mentality shadow this time of service. I'm not sure how it happened - but I wish I could go back and do it differently.

I share this not to ruin a sweet story, or to lessen our gift to these kids, but rather to show how easy it is to "miss it" - even amidst a loving act of service. No doubt, our hearts were focused on blessing the kids at Canaan, but we were also so focused on our "plan" for how to do that efficiently, that we completely missed out on blessing some of the kids who fell just barely outside of our well-laid plans. 

This saddens me to remember, but also serves as a reminder to not let my plans for serving others get in the way of truly meeting the needs before me.      

(We traveled with Visiting Orphans - an organization that offers multiple trips yearly and to numerous countries, all with one purpose - to love the orphan and care for the needy.)

Goal #93 COMPLETE: Visiting Our Compassion Family

More progress on my Project 101 in 1001 list. Read about my journey here.

Goal #93 - Visit Compassion sponsor girls in Uganda - COMPLETE!

When I hesitantly put this goal on the list, I could only half-imagine that it could ever possibly happen and yet, by God's provision and timing, I was able to accomplish this life-long dream (so much more than a goal to me) within the first year of Project 101 in 1001. (And just in the nick-of-time too, now that we have twins on the way!)

My first exposure to Compassion International was at a young age. My parents began sponsoring a little boy from Haiti named Ethny when I was about five or six years old. Enthy was our family's sponsor child until he graduated the program at around twenty-years-old. As he and I were close in age, we "grew-up" together via letters and photos. When I was very young, I would have reoccurring dreams about meeting Ethny in Haiti and playing with him there. This never happened sadly, but that experience lit a passion in my heart for the ministry of Compassion.

When I became a sponsor myself in 2006, I remembered those dreams about visiting Ethny and desperately hoped that someday I would get to visit my own sponsor children in Uganda. On March 22, 2011 that life-long dream became a reality! 

Allow me to proudly introduce you to my beautiful girls:

This is Rachael (who I have mistakenly been calling "Nazziwa" for the past four years... apparently Nazziwa is her last name. That was a little embarrassing to straighten out during our introduction. Oops.) When we first saw each other, we ran into the each other's arms for a long embrace full of lots of laughter. Neither of us could believe this meeting could really be happening. After four years of sharing our lives through letters, it was wonderfully surreal to be talking face-to-face.

This lovely girl is twenty-years-old and hopes study for her teaching certificate when she graduates high school next year. Teaching young children about Jesus in Sunday school is her main passion and she loves to sing. In one of her first letters to me she wrote, "I hope I get to meet you someday, I would like to sing for you." I held her to that promise during our visit and discovered my girl has a lovely voice! She sang a song from Hillsong United and it was simply beautiful.

This smiley little thing is eight-year-old Barbra, who wants to be a nurse when she grows up so she can care for the babies in the hospitals and orphanages. Barbra was very shy at first meeting, and being from a rural part of northern Uganda, doesn't speak much English. We had to communicate through a translator (who insisted Barbra was usually a chatterbox) which made breaking down her shy barriers a little more difficult, but eventually she warmed up to both Devin and I.

Another reason she may have been shy is that she has had little, to no exposure to "Muzugos" or "white people." The translator told me that on the seven-hour bus ride to Kampala, Barbra saw a white lady out the window and exclaimed, "I get to meet one of those today! That's what my sponsor looks like!" Too cute. We also got to meet Babra's mother and baby brother Ambrose (right), which was an honor we hadn't originally planned on.

Just for fun, Devin and I performed a swing dance for the girls, family and Compassion workers present. We told them we wanted to show them some American dancing since we had been blessed to see so many African dances while in Uganda. Partner dances are rare in Uganda so all the spinning and twirling delighted our little audience. Chris, the Compassion center director told us, "I need to learn how to move like that!" and then tried to mimic us with a move that can only be described as something resembling dancing spaghetti.

Another fun part of the visit was when Devin and I announced to the girls that we were expecting twins (something that is considered a huge honor in Uganda.) Rachael especially squealed with delight and I teased her that it was because of her prayers (she insisted on praying that God would give us children even though I explained to her in my letters that we were not planning on starting a family for a while yet.) 

It was an incredible, surreal, unbelievable experience meeting these girls and I wish our short visit could have lasted longer (we were literally leaving for the airport three hours after the visit began). However short, it is something I will never forget. These girls are amazing and I am so blessed and honored to be their sponsor. I am so excited to write them this week now that we've met and hugged and talked face-to-face.

No other goal on my list could possibly compare to the last two I've blogged about. Completing the remaining goals seems almost trivial now. Hang with me if I seem less-than-enthused for a while about the remaining 609 days of Project 101 in 1001. I'll get there - probably.

Letters That Make a Difference

I started Goal #57 this week - Write my Compassion sponsor children once a month for a year.

Compassion International started an initiative that I stumbled across recently (perfect timing I'd say) that asks child sponsors to write their children on the second Friday of every month. I have been a sponsor for four years, but I never truly grasped how deeply important sponsor letters are to a child in the Compassion program. The letters these children receive from their sponsors are often the only words of encouragement that those children ever receive and you can not believe how deeply wounded they are when they do not receive a letter on delivery day. Yes, there is a delivery day. Which means that all the children line up at the Compassion centers and hope (a word so foreign to most of them) that their name will be called and that their sponsor has remembered them. When their name is not called and they walk away empty handed... my heart aches just thinking about that kind of disappointment. (Read a beautiful story about delivery day here.)

I was the kind of sponsor that wrote my kids when they wrote me, but never really made a huge effort beyond that. I loved getting letters from my two girls but was really challenged recently to invest into their lives even more, so I committed to Second Fridays as a way of engaging Goal #57. Wouldn't you know that just days after I made that commitment, I received a letter from my oldest sponsor child that just melted my heart. Here is a little excerpt:

"I have written this letter to thank you for paying my school fees and to tell you about my school because I love it. I greatly thank you for my schooling because if it wasn't for your paying, I don't know anybody who would have done it. I do even thank God who joined us together because it was because of the love he has for me. Most of the young people going to school are in Compassion because most of the have no parents like me and others are abandoned by their parents when they are still young so they live hopeless, not ever thinking that there is someone thinking about their well-being. They don't even know that just a prayer for them can make a change, so I do really thank you and God who have loved me. You are trying to make me be somebody in the future." - Nazziwa, 19 years old

Wow. Just... wow. 

So here is my challenge for any of you sponsors out there:  Write your kids. It means more to them then you could imagine.

If you can't afford to be a sponsor, but your heart aches for those little empty hands on delivery day, consider being coming a Word Sponsor. You get to write to children who have financial sponsors, but whose sponsors can't write them (example, I know of a guy who has 60 sponsor children through Compassion, I'm guessing he would need to take advantage of the help of Word Sponsors).

Lastly, I saw this video about the impact sponsors can have on a child. It interviews past sponsor children who are adults now. Incredible. Watch it. (pretty please)

My Ash Pile

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." - Matthew 6:19

I heard someone say recently that "The more stuff I collect here on earth, the bigger ash pile I'll leave behind when I die." That idea really puts into perspective the skewed value we place on our stuff doesn't it? It seem recently that this mentality has been growing deeper and deeper roots into my heart. The more I downsize, give away and sell, the more I realize how much I still have and how much less I could still live without.

Devin and I are having a garage sale November 19th and 20th to raise money for our Africa trip (if you live in the Phoenix area and have anything to donate - we'll take it!), so this past weekend we started combing our closets for things to sell.

I was a bit baffled, and more than a little ashamed, to see the pile of clothes I was able to clear out of my closet. You see, I have already down-sized my clothing collection twice in the past few months and somehow I still had a full garbage bag of clothing to put in our garage sale. That is just ridiculous.

During the first round of downsizing, I got rid of some outfits that I didn't like all that much. The second round had me donating some things that I liked, but didn't wear all that often. But when I was looking through my closet for round three, I had to remove some clothing items that I really liked a whole bunch. There were many moments when I removed something from the hanger, put it back, glared at it and pulled it back out again with a sigh. But as I perused my still hefty (even after two trips to Good Will) stockpile of clothes, I thought, "What am I willing to give up so that I can go to Africa and love on some orphans?" With that thought in mind, my perspective on the worth of my clothing changed considerably. 

I mentioned this in last week's Radical post, but I'll say it again here. As I pulled out items to sell, I felt so foolish at my wasteful materialism. The cute jacket that I had to have for $25 will be lucky to snag $5 at a garage sale. Thinking about what the $20 difference could have bought instead (i.e 133 meals for a child in Africa) makes me so embarrassed, but I am thankful to be learning these lessons. I am grateful to have my eyes opened. I still have a long way to go, but I am starting to learn the contentment and fulfillment found in generosity.

"Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content." - 1 Timothy 6:6-8

We're All in This Together

I am so excited to tell you all about this awesome opportunity to feeding some beautiful African children in Uganda and get some lovely decor for your home at the same time!   

One of the ways well be raising the $7300 we need to go to Uganda in March is by selling some of the beaded crosses that I make. The cross picture here, "We're All in This Together" is hand crafted with beads made from recycled magazines -  beads which are created by women in Uganda. By selling this particular cross, we'll also be raising money to feed the children that Amazima Ministries works with.

(Pictured Left: 3.5" We're All in This Together Beaded Cross)

This is how it works:

Step 1: Amazima Ministries trains and facilitates the women of the Karamojong tribe to make magazine bead necklaces. These women are some of the poorest in Uganda and are often considered outcasts. The necklaces provide them with sustainable income to feed their families.

Step 2: The Karamojong women sell some of these necklaces to the 147 Million Orphans organization. When 147 the re-sells the necklaces, they send 50% of the profits back to the Amazima feeding program which feeds some of the children of the same women making the beads.

Step 3: I buy the beads from 147 and work them into my crosses. When a cross sells, I donate another 50% of profits to Amazima's feeding program. (The other 50% will go towards our trip.)

This means that the same set of beads will provide income and food for the poorest of the poor in Uganda in THREE separate ways!! Wow - what a beautiful full-circle story!

The 3.5" crosses (pictured above) are $20 (includes shipping to U.S. addresses) and will provide forty-six (46) meals for a child in Africa. This cross comes with a ribbon for hanging and makes a beautiful home accent or Christmas ornament.

The 7" crosses (pictured left) are $50 (includes shipping to U.S. addresses) and will provide one hundred and eleven (111) meals for a child in Africa. This cross comes ready to mount on a wall or can be placed on a bookshelf or windowsill for display.

Is this not just the coolest thing you've ever heard? (Okay, maybe not ever, but I'm pretty crazy excited about it!)

  
If you are interesting in ordering a cross, please visit www.jhcraftynotions.blogspot.com (click the "We're All in This Together" tab). Supplies are limited, so please order sooner-than-later. 


*Please note: Because they are handmade, the pattern of beading will vary slightly on each cross. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

I Left My Heart in Uganda, Africa

Six-to-eight-weeks and $120 later, I can officially travel internationally as Jennifer Hanson! The final piece of the puzzle that is changing-your-name-after-marriage (which ::ahem:: guys don't have to deal with) has been completed (over a year after my nuptials) and I can now (only if needed of course) quickly leave the country at a moment's notice. (Why do we say that any way? "Always have your passport ready in case you need to quickly leave the country." Sounds so sketchy.) (And while I'm at it -why is the majority of this paragraph in parentheses???)

Why would you need to "officially travel internationally"?, you may be wondering (or not). Well, I am so glad you asked (or didn't).

Devin and I have sent off our paper work to go to Uganda, Africa in March 2011!! We'll be traveling with Visiting Orphans and will have the opportunity to work along side the amazing Katie from Amazima Ministries (who I've mentioned many times on this blog). 

I traveled to Uganda with BreakDown United back in 2006 and I left a piece of my heart in that beautiful, precious country. Plus, I have two little pieces of my heart living over there - two amazing girls that Devin and I will have the joy of meeting in person for the first time during this trip.

One of the little beauties that I met while in Uganda in 2006
(© Jennifer Hanson 2006)

I am so excited for this trip - so excited to love on some precious people, so excited to serve as the hands and feet of Christ and so excited to see how God provides as we raise the hefty chunk of change we need to get ourselves over there. I have been longing to return to Uganda for over four years and now that I can start counting the days (150 by the way) until our trip, I can hardly contain my joy!!

I'll be posting more soon about what we'll be doing while we are over there and some of the super-awesome ways we'll be raising support. Can't wait to share it all with you! 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. - James 1:27

P.S. Devin, the photographer, took my passport photo so that I don't have to look questionably deranged for the next ten years. Excellent marital benefit.

P.P.S. Confession: When I wrote Goals #63 and #93 I honestly thought it might be a bit far-fetched to accomplish them in the allotted time. Ha! Silly Jen. When God tugs at your heart to do something - He provides a way! 

Compassion Sunday: Update

Thank you to anyone who prayed for these ten kiddos in need. We were able to find sponsors for Seylin, Omar, Kokou and Fancy this morning! Plus, two more families said they were going to head home and sponsor a child online. Praise the Lord!!!
 

Please say a prayer that sponsors will be found for Jose, Patricia, Abdul, Aaron, Nareerat and Irankunda. As sponsors where not found for them today, they will go back into the system to continue waiting for sponsorship. I look at the pictures of the remaining children and my heart churns with bittersweet feelings. I am overjoyed that I had the privilege to help find sponsors for four (hopefully six) children in need. Those four (six!) kids will be so impacted by the support they'll receive from their sponsors and the sponsors will be so incredibly blessed as they learn about their child and watch them grow. Your heart and your perspective changes when you begin to fall in love with a child living in such harsh circumstances. So I am filled with joy in that regard, but my heart is still aching as I look at the sweet faces of the six children who were not sponsored.

I did have a great time chatting with some other people in our church who sponsor children through Compassion International, or similar organizations. It was like a little mini-family reunion as we all shared and "bragged" about our sponsor children and encouraged each other to make the most of this privilege by sending letters, cards and pictures to our sponsor children more often. It was so exciting for me to share face-to-face with people why sponsorships like these are so important to me.

I have a long history with Compassion. When I was growing up, my parents sponsored a little boy from Haiti named Ethney who was just a few years older that me. I loved sending letters and pictures to him and we grew up together through the correspondence my family shared with him (I even had numerous dreams about being in Haiti and playing with him). My parents sponsored him all the way through high school. 

Then, when I was twenty-three, I went to Uganda, Africa and was able to witness firsthand the poverty these children are facing. The lack of food, water, clothing... The lack of opportunity or hope that things will ever get better. When I returned home, I began sponsoring Nazziwa, a sixteen-year-old girl from Uganda. Older children are always harder to find sponsors for, which is why I picked her. Plus, since she is older, I've been able to have some really meaningful conversations with her through the letters we've shared over the past four years. Then, two years ago, added a second Ugandan sponsor child, Barabra (who is now seven). The past four years of being a Compassion sponsor have been such an honor. I've gotten to know these sweet girls and hear about the things they are learning about Jesus. With Nazziwa especially, I am able to encourage her as she grows into a young woman of God. It is an incredible blessing and privilege.

The problems of this world and the enormity of poverty can seem overwhelming, but changing the world can begin with one child. It can be with me. It can begin with you. 

Help a Child

 

Compassion Sunday

This Sunday, October 17th I am hosting a Compassion Sunday at my church to find sponsors for some precious kids in need through Compassion International (if you read this post, then you know how passionate I am about this cause). 

When I opened my information package for the presentation and saw the faces of the children I'll be trying to find sponsors for, my eyes filled with tears and my heart just plain hurt. I had to remind myself that it is through GOD's work that sponsors can be found, not through me (thank goodness!).

So, can I ask you to do something for me? I have packets with ten pictures of ten beautiful children who all need sponsors. Sponsors that will help them to receive an education, food, clean water, medical care, as well as learn about Jesus and be loved on by some amazing Compassion workers at the child centers they will attend. I'm going list the names and ages of these child here. Would you please pick one and pray for them? Pray that someone in my church would be moved by God's compassion for these little ones and to become a sponsor.

Seylin is thirteen years old. She lives in Honduras.

Omar is four years old. He lives in Mexico.

Jose is eleven years old. He lives in Bolivia. 

Patricia is nine years old. She lives in Brazil. 

Abdul is four years old. He lives in Peru. 

Aaron is eight years old. He lives in the Philippines.

Nareerat is ten years old. She lives in Thailand.

Irankunda is six years old. He lives in Rwanda. 

Kokou is ten years old. He lives in Togo.

Fancy is eight years old. She lives in Uganda.

If you are reading this beyond October 17th, would you please pray that God will continue to tug at the hearts in my church and that they will choose to have the honor and blessing of sponoring a child in need?

Thank you so much friends!

Save Children

"But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" - 1 John 3:17

What Dreams May Come

I've never had a vision. By that I mean, I've never awaken to see an angel at the foot of my bed proclaiming my God-ordained future and I've never had a flaming bush tell me to take my shoes off and I've never dreamed about stacks of wheat bowing down to me. I've always thought "visions" were something of the Bible days or something that really, really spiritual people experienced or that really, really not-so-spiritual people made up because of spiritual peer pressure. Visions didn't happen to me, nor did I expect them to. But the dream that I had last night can only adequately be described as a vivid sub-conscience scene constructed by God to teach me something... or yes, a vision of sorts.

In the dream I was traveling. Wherever it was I was going, I was getting there by plane and in order to get to the airport, I had to hop on a bus. In true-to-reality fashion, I was running late and hurriedly purchased my ticket and boarded the bus. 

When I arrived at the airport, the airline attendant asked me if I had any bags to check. 

"Yes, one,"  I replied. At which point I realized that I had left my suitcase at the bus depot. With panic-stricken chagrin, I grabbed the next available bus that would returned me to the station.

After what seemed like an eternity, one seeped in anxiety as I recounted all of the possessions that might now be lost to me, I arrived back at the depot. Racing from the bus, my gaze darted from one end of the platform to another in search of my suitcase. I was startled by the unexpected scene before me. 

There were children everywhere. They were dirty and dressed in rags and sat huddled together in the dirt and on piles of garbage. They had sunken cheeks and their small bodies were out of proportion with their bloated bellies. I wondered why I hadn't noticed them before.

Then I saw it. My suitcase was sitting in the far left corner of the station platform. Washed with relief, I whispered a quick, "Thank you, Jesus!" and rushed past the children to retrieve my belongings. As I got closer however, I noticed something was askew. All of the zippers of my suitcase where unzipped.

"Oh, crap." 

I knew even before I picked up the suitcase that it was empty. I had been robbed.

Frustrated, I marched into the bus depot to see if the station manager had seen who had pinched the contents of my suitcase. Entering the station, I noticed something odd once again. There were no other passengers. There were no station employees. There were no adults anywhere. Just children. Dirty, skinny children of all ages and they were wearing my clothes. My clothes! The little thieves had riffled through my belongings and where now wearing them. 

I approached a group of young girls who were giggling as they tried on the contents of my jewelery bag. I gasped in dismay as one little girl pulled out one of my favorite necklaces and looped it around her neck. Grinning, she turned and looked directly at me. Her eyes were glimmering and full of innocence. "Do I look beautiful?" she asked me sincerely.

And somehow I knew. I knew that this precious little girl with the long, dark hair had never been told she was beautiful. Not once. Not ever. Now, she wanted to know what I thought of her as she proudly modeled my necklace. What was I to do? Tell her that she looked lovely, but that she would have to return the necklace because it was mine?

Once again, I glanced around the station at all of the children wearing my clothes. All of the children who were reading my books and playing with my electronics and munching on my travel snacks. The indignation was suddenly drained from me and I was struck by a realization. They were not the thieves.

I was. 

It was I who had horded the abundance I had been given. The abundance that was meant to be shared with these children. I had kept it for myself and had, as a result, stolen from these poor, hungry children. While I still had an entire closet full of clothes at home, I had been angry that they had taken the contents of one small suitcase in order to clothe their naked bodies. How could I have been so selfish?

I awoke from the dream slowly. I felt myself fading in and out of the presence of these children who seemed so real to me. I wanted so badly to stay and care for them and when I became fully aware that this had been a only dream, I felt a sense of loss. The sort of loss you feel when you allow an opportunity to slip through your fingers. But mixed with that feeling of loss, was a strange sense of peace at the realization that I had dreamed this scene for a reason and that while the children in my dream where forever lost to me, there were still nearly 147 million orphans in the world that I could still help. Having been fully awaken to them, I would not let this opportunity slip through my fingers again. And now, as I recount this dream for you, I feel joy that God chose to bless me with this look inside myself.

(A photo from my trip to Uganda, Africa in 2006 while at an orphanage outside of Kampala © Jennifer Hanson 2006)