On the Old Path | Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. ~ Jeremiah 6:16

Child Sponsorship

I was recently approached and asked if I would share a guest post. I was so happy to see it was a post about something very near and dear to my heart. David and I have sponsored children for almost 20 years now. So please take a moment and give this a read!

Why sponsoring children is a great Christian act

“Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”

– Matthew 25:34-36

Not every child in this world is lucky enough to live a worry-free life. A lot of kids in third-world countries have to work instead of study in order to eat three square meals a day. Some don’t even have money to go to school or buy books for self-study. According to World Hunger, about 129 million children under the age of 5 in developing nations were underweight in 2012 alone.

Thankfully, there are child sponsorship programs that allow people to extend help to kids living in deprived areas.

When Christians sponsor children, they are fulfilling God’s word to His followers. Sponsorship programs feed, clothe, and give kids a home. They also provide education until the child is old enough to support his or herself. Unakids, a charity that operates in the Middle East, even provides kids with a choice when it comes to their education. They can choose whether they want to pursue university-level studies or go into an apprenticeship.

image credit: www.compassion.ca

What’s great about sponsorships is that those who have benefited from them usually pay the good act forward. They don’t forget where they came from and help others when they’re old enough. Child sponsorships mean starting a ripple of good acts, which is what Christ would want from His followers.

Sponsoring a child isn’t that expensive and only requires people to donate less than $3 a day. So if you can find it in your heart to extend your blessings to the underprivileged, you might want to try sponsoring someone. It is way better than providing a one-time monetary aid, and you will be giving someone a better chance at life.

Faith

Choosing to LIVE Everyday!

Each ‘New Year ‘ I make a list of goals for the coming year. Resolutions if you will. In past years I often start off great but within a short amount of time I miss a day or fall behind. Guilt sets in and then it can be all downhill from there. Occasionally, the beginning of a new month will spark the resolution a new, after all it is a new month with no mistakes in it yet. Sometimes things get checked off the list and other times the year comes to the end and I find myself making a new list for the coming year and I just add the unaccomplished goals into the coming year’s list.

We have all heard the saying, “You Only Live Once.” Often used as an excuse to eat that extra piece of cheesecake, perhaps do something reckless, or to be frivolous. Recently I have seen the opposite phrase floating around online. “You Live Everyday. You Only Die Once.” I have had that rolling around in my head over the last few weeks. This year, when the inevitable happened and I did not keep my crazy New Year’s List, I was not hit with guilt.

Truth is if I am not happy with the way things are today, I am not stuck in this rut. I do not have to wait for a brand new month or year to make a fresh start. You Live Everyday. Everyday we have the chance to change. We have the opportunity to turn over a new leaf and have a fresh start. We can pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and start over.

A few verses come to mind too as I have had this phrase banging around in my head.

“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…” ~Joel 2:25

Perhaps an odd sounding verse, some of the locusts our family has lived through were, Dave being downsized and out of work (twice), brain cancer, and even me. I have been the locust at times I have let things distract me from what is most important, I have been lazy, or overwhelmed and wasted time worrying. Yet with God anything is possible, and the years the locust ate can be restored. Nothing is ever too late for God, He can work in any situation.

“I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God…” ~Psalm 40: 1-3

We can be in any situation and God can pull us out of it and dust us off, put us on solid ground and my favourite part give us a NEW SONG!!! We don’t have to keep the old negative narrative going through our heads. We don’t have to beat ourselves up, we can take on His NEW SONG for us.

WE LIVE EACH DAY!! How will you live this extraordinary life that has been gifted to you. Yes, it is your one and only life, but with it each day brings you a fresh new start. I am choosing to not let the things that in the past have filled me with guilt and caused me to become stuck in one spot. I am embracing each new moment. If my day started off pathetically slow because my wee one kept me up all night I don’t have to write off the whole day as a loss. Sure I might not accomplish everything I had planned, but this is still a day to choose to sing out my new song. We LIVE everyday!

Family

Why 2016 might just be, “The Best Year Ever!”

I am sure I have said it before and I know I will say it again, I love a new year. It is a fresh new beginning. No mistakes in it yet and full of hope. I also enjoy the time of reflection it allows for, as we sit on the edge of one year about to leap into the next.

I was talking to Taliah the other day and was lamenting that I had not accomplished as much as I had hoped to in 2015. She pointed out that for the first 2/3 of the year I was growing a baby and for the last 1/3 of the year caring for a new-born. In that light I think having Moriah here trumps last years goals.

Last night my oldest three children went off to a youth event and the four youngest were home with Dave and I. We had special food for the evening, and Hannah was pumped to stay up to midnight. I myself am not a big party animal, so I tidied my room, it had become a bit of a drop zone during the holidays. I then sat down and wrote a ‘To Do List’ for today. Unfortunately Moriah decided that last night would be a great night to pull an all-nighter. As a result not much has been checked off my list. All in good time they say, I do have a full year ahead of me.

Joel and Hannah successfully made it to midnight and Samuel gave it a valiant effort. Dave and I had the children all tucked in and thought we had Moriah down for the night by 1 in the morning. (As I mentioned she had other plans.) Dave (my hero) got up at about 5:30 to pick up our 3 oldest from the youth event they had attended ’12 Hours in His Glory.’ By 6:30 everyone was tucked away and Dave was curled up once again, the house remained quiet for some time.

As my feet hit the floor I took a page out of Samuel’s book and said, “This is going to be the best day ever.” Samuel often comes into my room and says, “Good morning Momma, this is the best day ever!” I have thought about his attitude compared to mine a lot in the last few weeks. He almost always starts his day this way. I on the other hand will think, I got 2 hours of sleep this is going to be a tough day. Perspective counts for a lot, that and choice. We can choose to see our day as an uphill battle or we can choose to count it all joy!

“Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.” ~Proverbs 4:23

Like any other year before it, I have no idea what the next 365 days will hold, challenges or smooth sailing. What I can know is how I am going to choose to approach it. I am not talking about plastering a fake smile on my face and living in denial, what I am talking about is that I am not going to dwell on the negatives. I am not going to re-play the ‘what if’s’ or ‘if only’s.’ I am not going to fixate on my past failings… they are just that, past. I am looking forward with anticipation and hope to all the incredible possibilities that lay ahead. I am going to embrace each day for the gift that it is!

Like Samuel I am choosing to see 2016 as the best year ever!

Christmas

The Annual Christmas Letter

Sometimes we just have to admit defeat…today is one of those days for me. I did not get it all done. It is the morning of December 26th and somehow I feel like I am still stuck somewhere in September. The year marched on and updates that I wanted to write were not written. Presents I thought I still had time to make are still balls of yarn…

…and well, the Annual Christmas Letter…umm, you’re looking at it. Can you believe I actually booked a session with a photographer for our Christmas pictures. A local photographer had an amazing deal so we jumped at it. I was thinking great I do not have to pull my hair out trying to get the perfect picture or as near to perfection as one can attain with seven children. We got our disc with all the wonderful pictures that I was going to mail out to all our friends and family. Sadly those pictures only made it as far as my computer. Once again I admit defeat, you will not find said pictures in your mailbox…inboxes will have to do for this year and without any further adieu I give you the Family Christmas Letter.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

2015 wasted no time, it had just begun and we were enjoying the secret that a new little one would be joining our family. Dave and I decided it would be fun to send Samuel into the Living Room with the message ‘Big Brother’ on his shirt. His older brothers all looked at his shirt and said yes we’re your big brothers what do you want Sam? It took a little while for them to get the message and realize that Samuel would soon be joining the ranks as a big brother.

This year was full of activity as many of them are. Elijah and Taliah have been enjoying being part of our church’s youth group. Elijah continues to be a part of the local Air Cadets, he completed a six week long Survival Instructor Course this past summer and is currently ranked as Sergeant. Elijah took another step on his faith journey this year and was baptized on Father’s Day!

Taliah continues to amaze us with her artistic ability. Taliah co-illustrated a music book for children that one of our local friends published.

Joshua and Joel both attend Knight School, a program our church puts on for young fellas. Joshua was also baptized on Father’s Day, what a gift it was to hear from both of the boys hearts as they shared their reasons for being baptized. Joshua ,who is one of our resident Scotts, has taken up the Chanter (Dave and I are brave parents) for those who are not familiar with the Chanter it is the precursor to the bagpipes. The Chanter is the part of the bagpipe one plays the melody on. As for Joel his growth hormone sure is working, he is still making gains on the growth curve. The doctor tells me each visit that I should not expect to see him growing at this rate yet each visit this year we saw him climbing on the growth curve. We have no idea how long this will last but are thrilled that he has been growing at this rate. We are still seeing some spine growth but it is slow, some children do not grow through the spine after radiation to the spine so we will happily take what we can get.

Hannah and Samuel spend a lot of their time imagining all sorts of games to play. They seem to be an endless stream of activity. Hannah has continued with Highland and Step Dance, she is a talented wee dancer and we all love to watch the many performances that she daily treats us to. Samuel, who is not yet 5, still enjoys cuddles and the perks of being the youngest boy in the house and for over 1/2 the year was still the youngest. He recently went with some of his siblings to his first sleep over. When I asked him if he was too little to go to a sleepover, his response was, “Momma, I am a big brother now, don’tcha know!!”

Dave is constantly busy, if he is not hauling wood, then he is in the garden, pruning trees, working on his chicken concern, butchering chickens, saving seeds, starting plants from seeds, oh not to mention his full-time job. (Not in that order…)

The first part of my pregnancy was uneventful, unfortunately the last bit was not as smooth sailing. My health took a bit of a dip and our wee little one was induced two weeks early. Moriah Margaret was born in the first minute of August 24th, for two weeks early she was a fine size, 8 pounds 4 ounces! As each sibling before her Moriah has been the perfect addition to our family. She is a very content baby as long as you are paying attention to her. As much as I try to hold her back she seems to be in a hurry to grow up, on Christmas Eve she was 4 months old and she weighs over 16 pounds and has cut two teeth.

Folks are funny, once we moved past the traditional two child family we have often been met with rather negative comments. We have found ourselves dreading telling folks we are expecting again as the unkind words can be hurtful. This time around we were blessed with only well wishes, and oddly enough since Moriah has been with us we have had countless folks tell us we need one more to even things out, 4 boys and 4 girls. After hearing you must be done by now so many times, this has been rather amusing to Dave and I. We are currently enjoying our 4 boys and 3 girls and at this point have no new announcements.

2015 had its ups and downs but I am choosing to tuck away the happy memories; the birth of a new daughter, our house overflowing with friends and family on countless occasions, an MRI that said cancer free, a cool pool on a hot day, a warm fire on a cold night, so many deep meaningful talks, and faith in Christ that continues to grow as we journey this road called Life.

2016 is just days away and it seems everyone under our roof has big hopes and dreams for this new year. I too am looking forward to it and perhaps I will even get the 2016 letter out in the mail! Wishing you all the very best in 2016! God Bless You All!

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image credit: www.compassion.ca

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