Time

A few nights ago I found myself sitting with a friend, holding her newborn daughter, talking about the tests and appointments that are ahead due to a syndrome she has.  It was late and as we talked the baby's grandma said "I remember getting those pj's for her, it was so hard finding something "gender neutral", but I wanted to get the baby something for Christmas" ... as she finished my friend said ... "wow, Christmas, we had no idea we'd be finding out the baby was a girl two weeks later ... and eight weeks earlier than we had expected".


As those words rang in my ears, I thought back over the past year and how so many who are close to me are in completely different places than they expected to be just a year ago.  Facing challenges and joys they only read about in other peoples stories.

This past week I watched as another friend watched her three children chase lightening bugs in the church parking lot.  As I walked to my car I stopped to watch, knowing that this time next year (without a miracle) she'd only be watching two kids chase lightening bugs.  Yet, a year ago the word cancer had never crossed their lips.

None of us know what lies ahead, we can only live in the present, which is why I feel more strongly than ever that we must live as God intended us to live - joyfully with hearts and minds that long for HIM and hands and feet that do HIS work.

There's been a lot on my heart and mind lately.  While life's been busy, there's been some tough lessons, some beautiful insights, and some amazing intersections throughout the last several months.

I challenge you to live for today, to seek after Christ, and to LOVE as He loves ... you never know what lies ahead.

"...be filled WITH LOVE that comes from a PURE HEART, a CLEAR CONSCIENCE, and SINCERE FAITH."  1 Timothy 1:5

Music Monday

This is "Tunnel" by Third Day ... it is a song they sang last week while we were at Riley.  What I loved about the 2 songs they sang ... in addition to the Third Day Classic "Old McDonald"... was that they really thought through their song selection and sang two songs that that were so appropriate to the feelings of the families there in that lobby.  This is one of the two they sang.

Speechless

Now that I've begun writing this for the third time I'm going to be honest ... I'm speechless and in complete awe of a Maker who knows every detail of every situation.  The past four months haven't been easy.  We've been walking the road of Childhood Cancer with two kiddos in our ministry ... two kiddos who were diagnosed the same week and two families who in a moment their lives were changed forever.

Throughout this journey there have been moments that seemed hopeless, but in those moments we've seen God move in mighty ways.

One of the things that has happened over the past month has been a simple Pillow Pet Collection.  It began with a 7-year olds dream to give 1,000 other kids at Riley a Pillow Pet ... the same toy that he himself loves to play with and then snuggle during his own treatments.  As I put together the flier to promote to our families that we would be collecting the Pillow Pets I remember thinking "I hope we can help him get to 1,000" ... "wonder if anyone will bring these in" ... "when we collected Build-A-Bears for a local children's shelter we got 75 ... hopefully we'll get at least that many".

I shouldn't have put God in such a small box.

It wasn't long after that day that I was being pulled from our Children's Staff Meeting to speak with a rep from KLOVE (headquartered here in Indy) - as I sat there with another co-worker she explained to me how they had heard about the little boy and the collection, called Applebee's and wanted to know if we would be okay with them helping!


Sure ... why not - it sounded great ... a radio ad here in Indy and then the day after the concert they would talk about Jake and the Pillow Pets and share his story nation-wide on the morning show.

The following Monday I had a txt from my brother in Columbus, Ohio telling me he heard about the little boy from the church ... that was the moment I knew God was going to do much more through this little boy and some Pillow Pets than we had ever imagined.

See what God does in tomorrow's post!

Learning to Love Again

Somewhere along my years in college - helping hurt.  And I mean HURT. 

In the name of "serving, loving, helping" - something like that it hurt.  I was taken advantage of and it left the last two years of college simply miserable. 

I won't go into all the details, but ultimately, it left me with a guarded heart.  A heart that wanted to "check you out" before I helped, before I loved, sometimes even before I cared.

Over the years I've known that this isn't God's desire for our lives. 

He doesn't desire for us to be hurt - ultimately, though - because of sin - sometimes we are.

He does desire for us to love, to serve, to reflect Him in our actions. 

Ultimately, through this situation I've learned that you have to love, even when you've been hurt - its hard - but we are called to love others.  It's important to be careful and not to allow others to take advantage of you, to set boundaries and stick to them, even when it seems nearly impossible - but its important to not miss out on the love God has for us through serving others.

So, today on this Valentine's Day, I'm reflecting with a little less guarded heart, a heart that is healing from a massive hurt, and a desire to spend the next year continuing to love others.

Jake

This is my buddy Jake. 

Last June, God began to cross my path and his mom's path through a simple conversation about his younger brother.  In July, God crossed another path with another coworker at church.  By October I was standing in our children's ministry hallway looking into the eyes of parents who had been dealt an unimaginable blow.  Jake has cancer.  Without a miracle, Jake's time here on earth will be short.

Through the pain has come perspective.  A perspective on life that I began to peer into four years ago when I found myself holding a four year old in his mother's hospital room as she slipped into the arms of Jesus - it was a time when I began to truly grasp the effects of cancer and the reality that we aren't guaranteed eighty years.  In fact, we aren't guaranteed the next eighty seconds.

Sometimes, I find myself thinking "Jake probably won't experience next year's Christmas, next year's super bowl, etc", but do any of us really know if we'll experience tomorrow?

As I've spent time with Jake and his mom and dad and siblings over the past several months I've not only walked along with them through their journey, but also seen the reality and effects of cancer on many families and many children at Riley.  The 5th floor is the cancer floor - it is a floor that you hope you never have to press the elevator button to ... and when you do, everyone looks at you with a sadness, knowing that you are somehow connected to a child with cancer.

Yet, through the ashes is beauty.  Jake has a heart that is impacting others and helping other children at Riley.  Even as he undergoes his own cancer treatments, he spends a little extra time at Riley handing out Pillow Pets to kids in the hospital, undergoing the same treatments he is.  Not thinking about his own situation, but instead loving and helping others - knowing first hand how each of these children are feeling.

This past weekend on the Northview Blog there was an incredible article posted about Jake and his servant's heart.  He and Northview will be collecting Pillow Pets over the next two months for the kids at Riley - the goal is 1,000 of the plush pillows - so far he has nearly 200! 

As Jake walks this road pray for him, pray for healing, for understanding, and for comfort.  Pray that he has the strength to visit family in Florida in a few months and that others are impacted by his story.

You can read Jake's article here: Jake's Compassion

And if you would like to help, Pillow Pets can be dropped off at Northview.  There is also a fund at 5th/3rd Bank for donations - "Jacob McConahay" is the account name.

Jake's Caringbridge (follow Jake's story here!)

The Beach

The beach, to me it is one of the last places on earth where you can truly sit and soak in God's creation, without the interruption of man-made things.  Looking straight out from the sand there is nothing but God, no skyscrapers, roads, or anything else to affect the view.  There are few places like this left in the world - the mountains are another place, but there is something about the majesty of the ocean that is overwhelming.

In July of 2002 I remember sitting in complete darkness on a beach in South Africa listening to the waves roll in.  It was a  night that I will never forget.  It was the night that the God I worship here in America became real to me.  He became the same God that was there with me half a world away.  I was listening to waves crash on the other side of the world, just like on my side of the world.  And the stars, well those were incredible and only added to the moment ... but this post is truly about the beach :-)

Tonight I came to Job 38:8-11

"Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?  For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.  I said, 'This far and no father will you come.  Here your proud waves must stop!

The sea is an incredibly majestic place.  Each time I walk along the sand and listen to the waves I am reminded of God's intricate details - the grains of sand and the shoreline - how He decided just how far the ocean would come and where the shore would begin.'

Through A Child's Eyes

***NOTE: Somehow this never got published and I just found it from the spring!***

(NO we weren't playing outside in 5 degree weather!)

My friends are adopting, in fact, I have several friends who are adopting, fostering, or talking about adopting.  The other night I was watching my friends' kids ... there's four of them now and they're at the age where I can sit back and watch them play ... they can negotiate their own issues, stay in the backyard, ride bikes, etc.  Their yard is also a "kid magnet" ... all the neighbor kids like to be at their house.

So, last week as I was watching them, a couple neighbor kids were over and I couldn't help but notice what they wanted to play.  To you or me it looked like a pretend game of house on the swingset ... complete with the youngest being the family "dog", but instead of house ... their game was called "orphan".  There was a "dog", a "lady in charge", a "sister", and an "orphan".

Like I said, it looked like just another game of "house", but it was so much more.  It was an example of children playing out what they are familiar with in their home - lives lived outside of themselves and focused on others.

The 5th Floor

I made my first trip to the child oncology floor at Riley today.  It was like nothing you can ever prepare yourself for.  Driving down I kept picturing in my head what I thought it would look like.  But, once you're there there's no "mental picture" that can prepare you for what you see.

Ultimately, childhood cancer became real. 

No longer something you read about on someone's blog or you see in the mall on tv or the internet - its not a prayer request or someone you heard of - it's your friend and their child that you're now looking at - and its real - and it sucks.

The past few weeks in life group we've been studying Habbakuk - a book that's all about questioning God, which lately I've found myself asking God why people have to suffer, why kids get cancer, and babies unexplainable tumors - ultimately I "know" the answers - the sin, the curse, its all part of it - but it doesn't help the "why" that the human brain just can't wrap around.

I sat in the "family" room spending time with a friend just talking about life, the hospital, and the trials that they are facing.  My heart broke - yet I am thankful that they are able to be there and that they are close so that others can be there with them too.  So many kids come from out of state and don't have family there with them which makes things even harder.

So, would you join me in praying for them and all the kids on a very full and very large floor at Riley ... and if you ever need some perspective on life, just take a stroll through the hospital.

This Thanksgiving

As I reflect on Thanksgiving, I sit in a hospital room watching - more like mesmerized by - the O2 Stats as my grandfather struggles at times to breathe.  Doctors say he has a terrible case of pneumonia and as a former smoker at 81, that makes for a very terrible case of pneumonia.  It's not been the only hospital situation I've found myself in lately.  In fact, there have been difficult conversations over the past several weeks with my own family and families in our ministry.  So many have been facing difficult medical situations over the last several weeks.

This Thanksgiving won't be like Thanksgiving's past.  No gatherings at grandma's and grandpa's - instead we'll meet together for a simple meal, drive my grandma to see grandpa and then spend the rest of the day being mesmerized by the oxygen meter - its really a wait and see situation.

But, this Thanksgiving, I can tell you that I'm thankful for my health and for a God who never changes.  As the last several weeks have unfolded I have seen how in a moment life can change.  One phone call, one doctor visit, one moment and everything can be upside down, different, changing, spiraling out of control.  Yet, through it all there's a God who knows each of these circumstances, who loves each and every person involved and whom we can depend on in these times of uncertainty.

As you enjoy family and friends today don't forget those who will be spending this holiday in a hospital - waiting with uncertainty for the next doctor to come through the door.  Take a few moments to stop and pray, to thank God, and to cherish the time you have with those you love.  Here are a few I'm praying for in addition to my grandfather ... Jake ... Kendall

The Most Un-Free, FREE* Word

Prayer. That single word can make the entire room go quiet at the end of my life group ... well admit it - it probably happens in your life group too.  There's something unknown about prayer - will I have to pray? outloud? does God hear me? what if I don't use the right words? will others look down on me?

Now, add Experience to that simple word and well, those thoughts and feelings can be amplified.

BUT, who said prayer has to be scary, that you have to have it all together, that God cares about the words you use ... because in reality, it's not, you don't have to, and He just wants to hear from you!

I entered the Prayer Experience last Wednesday, not quite sure that God had much to say to me.  I have been getting a lot out of FREE*, BUT I entered the time more as a "let's check this off the list" than a "let's meet with God".  It had been a long day, on top of a long week and I just needed to "get it done".

God had other plans though.

As I entered the first area I found myself in another world, relaxing, forgetting about all the things I had to do.  I sat there for awhile, with no real purpose - just taking in the sights, the people, and the music playing on the small mp3 player.  God gave me a word, a picture of freedom - yet - I didn't know how that word had anything to do with freedom ... boundaries???  Seriously... that's the most "un-free" word I could think of.  But, I went with it and I began to move along the path to the upstairs hall.

I moved through several elements and then I came to a room decorated for the holidays with packages all around.  The words played in my ears - saying "these packages are filled with gifts God has for you ... will you receive them?"

I paused for a moment and then approached the packages - there were many to choose from, all with a different "gift" inside.  I took the first one off the shelf and the word inside was REST - what an incredible moment that was.  I knew that God had met me right there at that time, with just a subtle reminder that He knew I was tired, stressed, and wondering how I was going to get through the next few days and weeks with a busy schedule coming up - HE KNEW - and for me that made the entire experience worth it.

I finished the experience, moving from room to room - praying for others, praying for myself, but in it all meeting God in a different way - a way I normally don't experience Him. Through quiet, words, surfaces, and thoughts the Prayer Experience became less about prayer and more about experiencing God - a God who loves each of us and wants the very best for us ... even when He has to literally put things right in front of you!

As I made the drive home that night, I knew that my original picture of freedom made a little more sense and that God was speaking to me through it all.

This post can also be read here on the Northview Blog.

Music Monday

We've sang this a couple times during Weekend Services and I absolutely love the words in this song...

Veggies Video

This is a beautiful song about adoption and the video is filled with many "gotcha day" photos and videos - VeggieTales new movie is all about adoption ... enjoy!

Compassion International

You may, or may not, be aware of the ministry called Compassion International - more than likely you know them for their Child Sponsorship Program, which enables thousands of people around the world to support thousands of children ... making the world a little smaller by connecting those who have, with those who have not.

But Compassion does more than just enable thousands of people to sponsor thousands of children.  In addition to the orphanages, food programs, schools and countless other things they are involved with, Compassion works to bring a voice to those who aren't heard.  They work right in the heart of the need and enable those who otherwise would have no voice, to be heard ... around the world!

In less than 48 hours a team of seven will leave for Guatemala with Compassion International.  While there, they will work right alongside those using the money from Child Sponsorships, meet children who are sponsored, maybe even meet the child they sponsor, and see life with sponsorship; and life without.  Each night they'll post their stories and pictures - their thoughts, ideas, and in the end, give those who have no voice ... a voice and share it with the world.

You can follow each of their stories and hear from those they meet at the links below...

Amanda Jones ::: Baby Bangs

Lindsey Nobles ::: I'm Just Sayin


Ann Voskamp ::: Holy Experience

Lisa-Jo Baker ::: The Gypsy Mama

Compassion International

Father to the Fatherless

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the LORD— and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”

- Psalm 68:4-5

In 1987 my world was rocked by divorce.  My dad didn't really stay involved - he went off and did his own thing, separate from my life.  We didn't go to church much, in fact his 'visitation' time was Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.  And when we did start going to church I really really struggled with God ... Father?  

Are you serious?  My picture was one of abandonment - how could "God the Father" really be loving and involved in my life when my only ideas of a father didn't quite go along with those traits.  Then, during the summer of 1999 I heard a woman give her testimony before she was baptized ... we'd been in church maybe a year and I was entering high school.  Her words were simple, but I could connect with them.  She said that she had decided God was HER FATHER since she really didn't have an earthly father who was involved in her life.  It was simple and something I knew, but I just needed to hear it from someone who had been there.  God crossed our paths that day to remind me that HE was my FATHER.

My dad died on Father's Day 2002 - it's been eight years ago now, but still seems like yesterday.  It was two weeks before I left for South Africa and two weeks after I turned 18.  Ready to enter my senior year of high school I faced the reality that my earthly father would never see graduations or grandkids - yet my Heavenly Father would lead me through all of lifes events.

Father's Day now is a little different - its a reminder of my dad - maybe one I would have overlooked had he not died on the actual day AND a reminder that there are people everywhere in my same situation and to them I want to say those simple words... GOD IS YOUR FATHER and He is loving caring and involved ... maybe not the picture you have of Him based on your earthly father.

The Past 8 Weeks

For those of you who don't know, the past 8 weeks have been some of the busiest most amazing weeks of my life!  It all began the last weekend of Februray when we did this and has continued in a way that only God could carry on.  We've seen this and these and even a marching band.  Ultimately though, I've witnessed changed life after changed life.

This past weekend we welcomed more than one thousand kiddos through the doors and thousands more adults.  The last eight weeks have been nothing short of experiencing God in a constant way.

Yet, through it all God has been working on me.  Its a work that isn't finished, but that seriously began last fall when I transitioned from overseeing 3-5's to 0-5's ... a transition I was ready for, but that would have never done on my own ... God knew that.  I enjoy having the control, knowing exactly what's going to happen and how it's going to happen.  Knowing that rooms are well covered for weekends and that everyone knows exactly what to do, but that's what God has been working on me about.  And in a lot of ways He's taken all control away.  It's hard to grow quickly and stay in complete control.  But, that's ok, because its really not me who needs the control ... it's God. 

So, for all of us control freaks leading ministries, families, lives ... take my advice ... just let God have the control ... its so much easier that way :-)

And with that, I'm going to get back on the blogging train ... sharing thoughts and life ... instead of trying to control what's happening :-)

My Church

This past weekend was powerful ... not that the last six or so haven't been.  So, maybe the better way to put it is that this past weekend was extra powerful.  Yet, I don't know that it was actually what happened in the service that struck me as one of the most powerful parts ... its actually what will happen next week and the weeks to come.

Before reading on, do me a favor and watch this.  Don't just be overcome by the power of the moment, but ask yourself what your response would be if that was your friend, your small group leader, your child's sunday school teacher walking across the stage...



...and that is one thing that I LOVE about my church.  More than 40 people told their story on stage last weekend ... they didn't think twice about people's reactions to their story, they knew that their story is part of God's story, so they proudly walked across the stage last weekend to exclaim what God has done!

And this weekend ... they won't be outcast, but will instead be loved and embraced by their friends and others they may not know as we rejoice together over the work that God is doing.  I don't know about you, but I think it takes a lot of courage to do that, but thankfully I've found a place where you can be exactly who you are and you'll be loved just because God loves you.

"Put Your Feet Down"

I had the opportunity to experience the ocean last week.  Now, I've been to three of the world's four oceans ... seen them all but the Arctic Ocean and been in three different countries when seeing the other three, but I've never ventured in.  There's something about fish swimming in there with you and not being able to see the bottom that just freaks me out ... let alone there are jellyfish and sharks that could get you too.  But this time, a friend convinced me that riding on the waves far outweighed the thoughts of fishies, jellyfish, and sharks ... so in (to the VERY cold) Atlantic I went last week. 

It was COLD ... I mean really, really cold, but the cold was quickly forgotten as I began riding the waves on a boogie board (or maybe I was just frozen and numb at that point).  It was FUN!!!  I loved the waves, but I kept finding myself struggling ... getting knocked in the head by a wave, having trouble keeping my board with me, or an array of other issues.  And each time I would begin to struggle my friend would say ... "Put your feet down!" 

I was having trouble keeping myself afloat in the water ... but ... it wasn't that deep and I could touch - but I was so wrapped up in staying above the waves that I would forget to just put my feet down ... I had just always pictured the ocean as this deep body of water that you can't touch the bottom of.  Obviously though when you're that close to shore that isn't the case ... even though I felt like it was.

At one point as I was trying to stay on top of the waves I realized that sometimes this is how it is in life.  I (maybe you too) get so caught up in all the junk and sin going on around me, in my own life, and in the lives of others - yet God is saying "Put your feet down!" ... stand on Me, on my Truth, on my Word ... I'm right here.  Just like the sand was right there God is too and He wants us to stand on Him, rest in Him, and trust that He is what will keep us going even when the waves of sin are crashing into us. 

So, as you go about your day ... just remember to put your feet down and stand on God ... you don't have to do life alone ... He's right there!

Forgotten God

Forgotten God, by Francis Chan

... having LOVED Crazy Love (his first book) - I knew that this couldn't be a bad read and having just read Crazy Love I figured just by the title that this book had to be about how we get so wrapped up in ourselves and our own lives that we forget about God and His role in our life.

...I was WRONG

...Forgotten God isn't about how we forget about God ... its about how there's a third part of the Trinity that we forget ... the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit and I have quite a history ... you see ... I knew He existed, but I had NO IDEA who, how, why, what, etc He fit into the Trinity.  I'm not quite even sure I understood that there was a Trinity.  I wasn't really raised in the church and only began attending as I entered my high school years. 

It was a Southern Baptist Church. 

To say the least, Southern Baptists are fairly conservative when it comes to the Holy Spirit - He's there, but they'd just prefer to keep Him in a box acknowledge His work in the big moments and contribute the rest to the skill of the preaching, programs, etc.

My first day of college was the first time I had ever had the Trinity explained to me.  I knew at that moment that I was WAY over my head and knew absolutely nothing about the Bible, Jesus, God, and especially the Holy Spirit.  I spent the next four years learning about all those things, but have still preferred to keep the Holy Spirit in the box that He's always been in - safe - right where I have the control.

I began reading Forgotten God on the plane earlier this week and in the first sixty pages it has already challenged me about my understanding of the Holy Spirit.  Not only that, but it has challenged me to ask myself the question of "am I allowing the Holy Spirit to control my life ... or am I controlling it?"

It's a question I'm working through as I read the rest of this book, but for now if you would like to take a fresh look at the Holy Spirit ... maybe even learn about Him for the first time - check out Francis Chan's new book Forgotten God - it is well worth the read!

Living It Out

Ashley Molina is one of my volunteers at Northview.  Currently, she is serving in Nicaragua at a school for the deaf.  Below is an article I featured on Ashley during last month's Volunteer Newsletter.

God, Sign Language, people, children, service – those are just a few of the things that Ashley Molina, an eighteen year old high school graduate, is passionate about. Currently, Ashley is serving for the next three months at a Christian School for the Deaf in Nicaragua – learning Nicaraguan Sign Language, while serving as a dorm chaperon, planning games and meals, and working as a teachers aid at the school, but her story doesn’t begin there. It has been a journey as she has learned to live out her faith and follow the calling that God has placed on her heart.

Ashley’s journey to where she is now begins almost a year ago when she chose to spend Spring Break of her Junior year serving with a team from North Beach in Nicaragua.  It was her first experience with missions, but one that has changed her life forever. While there, Ashley, and fifteen of her peers from North Beach served in a multitude of ways during Holy Week. From handing out rice and beans at a food distribution site to running a sports camp for students at a local school; the teens built relationships with the people in Managua and Los Pricilles.

Upon returning from Nicaragua, Ashley was contacted by K.Paul Maurer, Missions Pastor at Northview, about serving at Brookside Community Church. Ashley said that, “God calls us to serve more than ten days a year – you don’t need to send money, time is more important.” With this in mind, Ashley took the opportunity to begin serving here in Indianapolis with the Summer Program at Brookside Community Church. Over the past eight months, Ashley has built relationships with the children at Brookside while helping with homework, joining them on field trips to the local swimming pool, and eating meals alongside them – all while teaching them about a God who knows and loves them!

Brookside has not been Ashley’s only involvement in Northview’s Ministries over the last several months. In addition to attending North Beach on Sunday evenings, Ashley has served in The Sea with the three and four year olds each Sunday morning at 9 a.m. and with an elementary age child through the GraceWorks Ministry on Sundays at 10:45 a.m.

Over the last several months Ashley has found many ways that God has used her gift of sign language and her love for people to serve others. She has been willing to follow God’s leading in her life and He is using her to accomplish His plan.

Ashley will be spending the next three months in Managua, Nicaragua with missionaries Matt and Eva Barlow. Please join Studio 6.7 in praying for Ashley and her time in Nicaragua. She will be returning early this summer.

Blogging for Kenya

I came across this on a blog I follow from time to time. At first, I have to admit, I was a little unsure of the whole idea. While I didn't know that much about it - it sounded to me like Compassion was taking bloggers to another country to "show" them something - to show them a life that we'll never know and ask them to tell the rest of us about how the people in Kenya live.

BUT

I was wrong in so many ways. More than likely only a small percentage of the millions who follow these six blogs will ever travel to Kenya and experience life there. BUT through the words of these bloggers millions have been made aware of the life of the people in Kenya.

Not only have they made millions aware of a life most of us will never know - they've called us to action. This was one of my concerns when I heard about this ... why are they just going to "see" ... why aren't they going to "do" something. Wrong I was! They are "doing" more by "seeing" than they would have ever been able to accomplish with just their mere hands.

They have called us to action to do something ... whether its for a child in Kenya or a child across the street they are challenging their readers to do something for someone less fortunate.

You see, these six bloggers are doing more for the children in Kenya and around the world by telling their story and being their voice than they ever could have done with their mere hands. The children of Kenya have had a voice this week - they have had their stories told ... I hope these six blogs move you the way they've moved me this week...

MckMama

Brad Ruggles

Kristen Welch

Kent Shaffer

LV Hanson

Ryan Detzel

And if God so leads you ... you too can sponsor a child through Compassion International.