Thinking Beyond Self

Today's post is about our precious little boy. No, not Carson, our other precious little boy, Kennedy. Kennedy lives in Kenya and is 8 years old. Kennedy lives in a village with his mother and father, 2 brothers and a sister. He loves reading, jumping rope, eating meat, and his favorite Bible story is all about Moses. Kennedy is so much like me when I was in school :: his highest scores are in math, creative arts, and reading, while his lowest are in social studies. And he wants to be a driver when he grows up.

Kennedy's favorite color is blue, he likes to sing in Sunday school, and at home he helps his mom to fetch water. Have you ever had to fetch water? Sometimes I'll ask Marc to "fetch" me some water...but please make sure it's filtered and has ice. And maybe a straw.

When we were first introduced to the idea of child sponsorship through Compassion, our thoughts were that there was no way we could afford an extra $38 a month. That doesn't sound like a lot, but we were broke. We kept telling Paige (who just happens to be a Child Advocate for Compassion) that we would look at it when we paid off some bill or maybe if I started making more money baking cakes or something like that.

There was no (or not a lot of, anyway) pressure coming from Paige, but because she's my best friend, the opportunity kept presenting itself. So we prayed. And one day, I looked closely at the budget and said maybe, just maybe we could swing this. I wasn't sure how, exactly. I mean there were no "eating out" meals that we could cut out...we didn't even have the money for that. But I guess it was a weird, unexplainable, peaceful faith that came over me.

Not a month has gone by that we haven't had enough to cover our sweet Kennedy. And what does it say about us, or him, or America, or Kenya, that $38 a month is all it takes? Or that we thought we couldn't afford it? On paper, we couldn't. I still can't tell you exactly how it happened. But it did. Can you imagine living on $38 a month?

We love Kennedy so much. We have built a relationship through our letters, and hopefully one day we will get to meet him. We have his picture on our refrigerator and all the mirrors in our home, so that when we are looking at and thinking about ourselves, we will see him and be reminded to think beyond ourselves. We pray for him and talk about him to Carson. Carson will hold his picture and jabber away to him, and I could swear he knows him.

Be a blessing to someone today. I am not promising that if you sponsor a child that your world will be filled with sunshine and roses. I'm not saying it may not be a struggle for you. But I can assure you that God will provide the $38 a month that you need to become a sponsor. Paige has 15 children at her house, and at least one is waiting on you. Say the word and I'll snag one for you. Will you choose today to begin thinking beyond yourself?