I was inspired to try something glamorous for Easter; pictures with our bunny. 

I had high hopes of how completely adorable it would be.

This is the best I got.

And what you don't see in this picture is the rabbit trying to escape. A father yelling at his kids. A mother resorting to harsh sarcasm to manipulate the kids into cooperation. A little girl moaning and groaning about itchy grass touching her legs. Another girl in hysterics because she fears her beloved bunny will be gone forever. While the final girl nearly breaks the rabbits legs trying to make sure it stays put.

Pretty picture isn't it?

Here's the thing. A picture is only a glimpse. You don't see all that's going on around it. All that's transpired before and after. You may see something pretty and have no idea what's behind it.

That's the trouble with perspective.

Our perspective changes everything.

Sometimes this can be an eye opening gift. But most often I think it's a sight limiting hindrance. What we think we see and what's actually there are drastically different.

This is what makes it so essential to accept the truth: that our perspective, no matter how broad it may feel, is limited. So we probably shouldn't be walking around relying on ourselves.

We should be relying on Someone who sees the whole picture.

For more thoughts on perspective, visit the gypsy mama.

I've been reading this 10 times a day. You should too. ::: we were meant to choose to live in His beauty and provision.

10 Ways for Moms to Respect Their Daughters ::: Treating daughters with respect trains them to be women who offer respect to others.

Words Spoken :::  Because we are our kids' most influential presence, I'm seeing how my own words, even in the great name of all things funny, fail to speak life and instead speak slow death.

In Defense of Jesus ::: There is value in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, educating the illiterate, healing the sick… but the deepest poverty a child can know is hopelessness.

Why the Kids Really Need a Little Red Hen Mama ::: I have to ask it straight out… Why do I feed my kids scraps off the floor?

• Uploading photos from my camera I realize that it has been commandeered lately by someone other than me. Photo after photo of American girls having a grand time. Of course, how can I fault them for imitating what they see their mother do all the time?
• I've spent many hours over the last months, and many more over the past week, sorting and uploading photos to be printed. Because Costco had a great deal going, and it's just so important to me that my littlest girl have fully updated family albums the same way my biggest girl does. Something that I'd sadly fallen way behind on. Four hundred and fifty prints later, I at least have the tangible photos in my hands. Now to just find the time to put them in an album!

• More doll portraits!
• We've dropped down to the essentials when it comes to school around here. Only devoting our time to what we want to see finished by the end of the school year (which will hopefully be coming at the end of May!). This has resulted in an overload of concentrated information. Last week we did nothing but science, which I'm happy to say is now finished. But the overload of details about starfish, sea urchins, jellyfish, and sea squirts is all jumbling up in my head a bit. We celebrated our completion by watching Finding Nemo.
• This week's goal: push through the last three chapters of geography. We've really loved this book. Kind of sad to finish it. I think I've learned just as much or more than the girls.
• Feeling extremely introspective in my writing lately. Probably why I've been going to the red journal on my nightstand instead of the computer when the urge to write comes.

• I was so excited to discover the birth of little apples on one of our trees last week. Hoping, hoping, hoping this is the year our trees bear fruit. It's been a long wait.
• Trying to be more purposeful in my days at home. I've found that the freedom of always being home can easily give way to apathy and downright laziness. Praying for wisdom coupled with flexibility as I seek to do my "job" well.
• Softball season has begun, yesterday we spent our first afternoon in the pool, farmers market starts next week and Tuesday night jazz on the square is barely a month away. Summer is coming! With no vacation to plan and prep for this year, I'm looking forward to being fully immersed in our favorite summer indulgences around home.

Your turn. Tell me about your life lately…

Only a few today, but all of them absolute must-reads! 

This one, so so important….

Stress: The Overlooked Toxin ::: I think that everyone should do their best when it comes to avoiding toxins and chemicals. However, when we stress and worry over things like this, we are actually filling our bodies with more toxins!

This one is music to this book lover's ears…

Everything Matters: Reading as a Cultural Act ::: In God’s economy, where everything matters, books help us become culture-makers as they help us see anew

And this one, it's been in my thoughts all week…can't get away from it.

How Everyone can be an Optimist ::: So the Worst Case Scenario? Is only the scenario of not wanting Christ the most.

For the mom's heart…

How to Love Your Kids (When You Don't Really Like Them) ::: How can we love our children in the midst of seasons when their behaviors may not be incredibly likeable?

Time is Mine for the Molding ::: I choose. The time is mine to use.

More along the lines of yesterday…

The (upside) down side of community ::: Community will mold us, and we will feel it.

Comparison Will Kill Your Joy Every Time ::: How can I go from being joyfully content one minute to feeling sorry for myself the next?

The ones that have really made me think…

What Happens to Oliva* ::: Don't remind me of how far I have to go and how hard it might be to get there. 

Hold the Truth Tightly And Your Passionate Opinions Lightly ::: Let’s not be more exclusive than Jesus was.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psalm 133:1

Community is definitely a big topic these days. I see it mentioned and hear talk about it all the time. (And that's not an exageration. Literally all the time.)

I'm always a little put off when something becomes a major source of attention. I'm kind of an "if you see a band-wagon, turn and head quickly in the opposite direction" kind of girl.

But here's what I've been thinking. Maybe the reason everyone is talking about community is because we're all starting to see something that's been missing. Something big.

I know for myself, I am not prone to take real notice of a good thing in my life…until it's gone. Then I notice it's absence and find myself striving to get it back. Perhaps this is what has happened with community. It's a good thing, that has been ignored, and so has slowly faded out of our lives. And now we're seeing the absence. And realizing how much we need it.

A few days ago I read the most well articulated thoughts on biblical community that I have yet come across.

Then a day or two after that, more impacting words on the importance of community in your marriage.

I read things like this and I go yes, yes. I want this.

But the honest truth: I find that the idea of community is much easier than the living in community. 

The being real is hard, and the committing to people outside my little family is hard, and the grace and love that is needed to connect with people that might be different than me is hard. I want to do all of it in theory. But then opportunity arises and I am tempted to draw back. 

I think maybe community is one of those great and wise gifts that God has intended for us…that doesn't always look like a gift. Sometimes it looks annoying. Or feels like a burden. 

I talked with a friend this morning about how people are just quirky. We all have our quirks, and we're used to our own and those of the people in our own families, but coming into contact with other people's quirks can be…. hard.

And even beyond that, if it's not hard because we're different and we don't connect, or because there are quirks that irritate, it can be hard because within community there is always room to compare. To line ourselves up next to those we are in community with and then attempt to discern who's right, who's failing, who's got it good and who's being jipped.

I think about all of this and it's really tempting to say that maybe community sounds nice, but I'll pass.

Yet I can't.

Because as complicated and hard as it has the potential to be, I find myself desperately needing it. Looking for it like someone famished in a desert looks for water. 

So I fight the hard and fight for joy in the fact that this is a place where God can mold and change me and open my eyes to failings that I'm able to ignore when I'm not actually dealing with other people.

I feel knocked off my feet by the awareness that comes of my own pride, judgement and selfishness. But somehow that's a good thing.

I open my eyes to see all the places that my words and my thoughts don't match up with my actions. And I pray for the grace to appreciate differences. Not be annoyed by them. And not be drowned by comparisons. Let them be who they are and not feel insecure in being who I am because the truth is none of that matters when we can unite on one thing.

We all need Jesus.

This is our common ground. He is where we unite. And He has not created us to be solitary beings. By living without community we are robbing ourselves of one of His greatest gifts. And we are robbing others too.

Each Christian is a dispenser. God has supplied each one with gifts He has selected (He does not offer an array of options), with the good of all in mind. When we imagine that these gifts are for our own mere satisfaction, we are forgetting they are intended for service. All that I have is meant to contribute to the needs of others, and what I need will be supplied through God's dispensers.
Thus He unifies and harmonizes the whole Church, which is His Body, making each dispenser indispensable, for each dispenses a grace that is peculiarly His.

Elisabeth Elliot
A Lamp Unto my Feet

We must do the thing commanded… and we must trust God for the results.

If we wait until we are sure we shall do a thing purely and perfectly,
we shall never accomplish the will of God on Earth.

-Elisabeth Elliot
A Lamp Unto My Feet

Thanks to a last minute gift of two tickets to see one of our favorite teams, our weekend took an exciting turn.

It was quickly decided that the two sports fanatics in our house needed to be the ones to use the tickets, so off they went for a day of fun (and heat!).

A thrilling day that included a grand slam with the bases loaded and a home team victory at the end of the game.

Of course the two little girls that got left at home with Mom were feeling a bit left out of the fun, so something out of the ordinary needed to cheer things up.

And what could be more fun than a morning of sewing for the three best-loved companions in our house? Especially when they were in such desperate need of aprons! A little sewing for the dolls, a couple episodes of Little House on the Prairie, and the two little girls quickly forgot they were missing out on anything.

To make the day even more thrilling, I got a sewing project of my own finished for our oldest girl.

A new skirt, made out of "vintage" fabric stolen from my mom's sewing cabinet. I just love it, and am kind of wishing I had saved it for myself! But it will look beautiful on her and she was in need of a summer skirt. I was driven to make it myself after shopping every store in town and finding almost nothing suitable. (Has anyone else noticed the trend in girls skirts this season? SHORT!)

So glad to have that project checked off the list, and with satisfying results too.

How was your weekend?

I've often considered, and then refrained from sharing the piece of our lives that I want to share today.

I worry too much about it being misunderstood. Judged or criticized. Ridiculed or just blown off. 

I also fear coming across in a way that is not intended. Pretentious, self-righteous…. basically anything that would appear as though this story is really about us.

So I'm going to give myself a little peace of mind by asking you kindly up front how to receive my words today:

This is not about us. I'm not out to share our story and show how wonderful we are. I don't want you to be either impressed or annoyed. 

I'm sharing today because I'd love for you to see this story that's not about our family, but about something so much bigger, and consider if you could be a part of the story too.

Now that you know my intentions, here we go…

I've been aware of Compassion International probably since I was in Jr. High. It always sounded like a nice thing to me. Something I'd like to consider taking part in. But I just never really got around to it.

The last few years there's been a slow stirring building in my heart. The desire to finally jump in and sponsor a child. My husband and I talked about it many times, and always agreed we'd like to do it. But the tightness of our financial circumstances always caused us to hold back, nervous to make a commitment and not be able to follow through.

Finally we just decided to go for it.

Easter of 2010 we set a jar out on our living room coffee table. That year we made a shift from filling all of our plastic eggs for hunting with candy to filling them with loose change. 

We talked with our girls about the reality that they are among the world's wealthiest children, and tried to present a picture for them of what life can be for children who don't share that status.

Their sweet little hearts were very bothered by the idea that some children go without food. So much so, that they started asking if we could buy and ship a bunch of "orange macaroni" to the poor hungry children. We assured them that it would be much more helpful if we could send money to the adults who live where the children are, so they could buy them food there.

So on Easter they hunted down all of their plastic eggs, and came home and dumped their money in the jar. That was the start.

Our goal was to try to have enough money in the jar by Christmas to provide sponsorship for a child through Compassion for a whole year.

Christmas came around and our jar was full to the top. 

On Christmas morning we made cupcakes for Jesus and dumped our jar across the kitchen table to count it out. With the addition of some money we'd received as a gift for Christmas, we reached our targeted amount.

Excited, we gathered around the computer together and selected sponsor a child. There were all kinds of options to filter what child you would choose, but we felt drawn to a very specific one. A "longest waiting" child. 

Having researched enough about child sponsorship, I knew what this would mean. Probably a boy and he would probably be older. Not exactly a suitable "match" for our family. But we just couldn't stop thinking about what a special gift this could be for a child that had been waiting who knows how long.

It took a few weeks for the details of who we'd been matched up with to come in the mail. But when it arrived we were all so excited.

A teenage boy from India. 

We put the picture that was sent in a frame and set it next to the jar, which we had begun filling for the next year.

We began writing letters to him. The girls would draw pictures to include and we would tell him silly things. Favorite colors, favorite foods, what the weather was like. We would ask him any questions we could think of, which I have to admit was a bit difficult feeling so clueless as to what his world is like.

But stumbling through, we wrote, because I had read of the importance of the letters.

And soon letters came in return.

Writing we couldn't even comprehend, translated for us in a very proper English kind of way. Slowly we learned bits and pieces of his life.

Details of his home, his family. 

The climate he lives in.

His schooling.

What he enjoys doing.

And always, always repeated thanks to Jesus and us for our sponsorship.

We've been  corresponding for two years now, and we've watched his artistic skills grow, and his excitement over progress in school build. 

He's told us his parents are also so thankful that he has been sponsored.

He has one sister. 

He loves going to the activities at the children's center (the place the funds are distributed through). 

He has been seen by a doctor and a dentist there and was pronounced "fit and fine".

He enjoys the Christmas festivities there.

He learns about Jesus.

He believes in Jesus.

But his parents do not.

He asks us to pray for his family. And for his education.

This year we were able to send an additional amount of money for his birthday. We received an enthusiastic letter telling us he got to buy new jeans, a shirt and chocolate with his birthday money.

He says he is praying for us. Always.

We recently received a new photo in the mail. He is clearly growing into a young man. I see him and my heart aches to meet him. To tell him what a gift he has given our family. This teenage boy who's every detail surrounding his life seems to be the polar opposite of our lives. Except for Jesus.

These are the words that come to my mind:

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:10-11

Here are my thoughts on child sponsorship:

Why?

Because we are loved. So so much. Because we are blessed beyond our comprehension. Because we have been placed in a place of abundance. 

We are not loved because we deserve it. We are not blessed because we are so wonderful. We are not in a place of affluence because we are entitled to it.

It is all a gift of God's sovereignty and grace in our lives and how can we not desire to pour out to others what has so graciously and freely been given to us?

How?

There are all kinds of organizations out there. We personally chose Compassion because we saw story after story after story of the difference they are making. Stories that affirmed their integrity. 

And because they are feeding and providing care for children in poverty, but beyond that they are sharing Jesus with them. Physical needs must be met, absolutely. But a strengthened body with a starving soul is still without hope. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, and it's in HIM that life is truly restored.

For the skeptic:

I know the hesitation of not wanting my money to be misused. Of not wanting to be taken advantage of. 

But here's what I've decided:

Number one: my money is not really mine. The sooner I get that straight in my head, the better for every part of my life. I am a steward of God's gifts.

Number two: with that in mind, I can strive to make the wisest decision I can based on the information I have and from there, leave it in God's hands. Ultimately the money is His to begin with. And I'm trusting Him to see that it's used for good. He knows better than I do what is truly good anyway.

I would never want to guilt you into doing something you don't really want to do. I don't want you to think that if you don't want to sponsor a child that you are doing something wrong. I know God places different callings on different hearts and uses them all for His glory. 

But if this is something you've been considering, I want to encourage you to take that step of faith and just do it. It is an amazing privilege and blessing!

Here are a few stories written by bloggers who have traveled to see the difference Compassion is making:

Neither Poverty nor Riches

When Compassion Becomes a Gold Rush

The House Made by Compassion

What the Hands and Feet of Jesus Look Like

When You are in Desperate Need of Hope