Small {Coffee for Your Heart}



This week's prompt from Holley is "A small thing that makes a big difference is ... "

Her name is Analiz. When I first saw her picture, she was small indeed. Barely a toddler, her eyes were pleading. Oh, how I wish I could say I have met her. I have not. But she has changed me, and all this without being even old enough to write me a letter. I receive updates from her many relatives, translated by World Vision. I write her long letters, in words I hope are simple enough for her to understand ... but the meaning behind them, I know she will probably not comprehend for several more years. I tell her of the day I received this, my latest photograph of her, how on that morning, I danced around my house, squealing, "Just look at my beautiful baby!" Isn't she gorgeous, though?
Analiz has shown me the mama side of my heart. Sure, I dote on the children I watch, and on my loved ones' littles, but this baby girl, I am somehow responsible for. She counts on us for the fulfillment of her needs through sponsorship, yes, but there is something else. I have no idea what kind of atmosphere she lives in. Are her parents openly affectionate? Does she have many friends? Is someone showing her Jesus' love daily? I honestly have no idea. So I love her. It isn't hard to do, I mean, look at that picture. However, I must do more than feel love for her, I must show love to her ... and this is what makes me feel like a mama. Because every day, I look at her picture. I have memorized every wrinkle in her jeans. I pray for her. I worry a little. I think about what she must be doing and learning. I write letters to her that I hope and pray show that I care. She's my baby, and she has changed my heart. I wonder if I've changed hers.
Sponsorship is such a beautiful thing. You make a commitment, thinking that you're changing the life of one child forever, but even that is an understatement. You find that your expectations were too low. Her family is changed. Her village is changed .... You are changed. Those around you are changed. And all because you said yes to one little face.
It always baffles me, how simple it is to do this. To sponsor a child, it takes about $30 per month, depending on what organization you choose to sponsor through. That's around a dollar a day. One dollar. We spend more than that on a soft drink. If we all were to daily sacrifice just one dollar per day? Do you have any idea what a difference we could make? To sacrifice one dollar's worth of junk food, so one child is fed. To sacrifice that trip to the mall, so one child gets to go to school. To sacrifice one more accessory, so that child has a uniform to wear. To sacrifice one hour, so the child hears about Jesus. Is it just me, or does that sound completely worth it? That little thing that just might change the world. That little child that just might decide to be the change, all because you told them they were enough.
I am not the one that pays the bills for Analiz. But I am the one who carries her in my heart. It may not be possible for you to sponsor a child today, financially, but that doesn't mean you can't pray for one. I promise you it will make a difference.
There are thousands of faces and names within the following links ... I challenge you to choose one. It just might change the world.




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