An Easier Way To Connect

If you know me at all, you know that I am very passionate about our family around the world.   My children reside not only in my home in Minnesota, but also in Honduras, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Mexico, and Kenya.   These children are in my prayers each day and I love communicating with them.  

I was just telling Mark this weekend that our two children from Mexico had, after two years of correspondence, finally asked us a question about our lives.   I have heard over and over again that this takes time because in different cultures, children may not feel comfortable asking questions of adults, or perhaps they don't feel they know you yet, and are hesitant to ask a question.   We finally received a question from each of them, and being so delighted in these questions, I responded right away to their letters.

The first question we received from our 15 year old young lady in Mexico asked how God had/has transformed my life.  Wow!   What a question to answer!  This young lady has a heart for God and longs for all of her friends to know God.   In each letter she asks us to pray for her friends that don't yet know God.  

My answer to her question, which is at points tested quite a bit, is inner peace.   I am learning what it is to have inner peace.   It is easy to say I have that peace when everything is going along just as I had planned, but when something is brought into my life that I didn't anticipate, or that I didn't want to happen in that way, then that peace is at times tested, but each day, I look to God and continually ask for that peace. 

Our second question was what does our rainy season look like.   Our almost 12 year old young man in Mexico has been going through the rainy season, but he is glad that his house is safe from the waters and he does not have to worry about the waters reaching his house.  However, he has to "take care that he does not get sick."   I love the tidbits of information I gather about his life in a question like this.   The bond that I have with him has just become stronger. 

I explain our winters here, of which I don't know that he can comprehend, and about the flu season that we also take precautions to not get sick.   I explain our "rainy" season is in the spring when the grass and trees come out of dormancy and begin to show life again, which is one of my favorite times of the year.  

With each letter that I write to our children, I try to include a picture of our family so that the kids have an idea of what is going on in our lives at the time of the letter writing.  I have received many letters thanking me for these photos, more than the small items I send with the letters at times.  

To my friends who are Compassion sponsors, I don't know if you have seen this yet or not, but communicating with our children just became easier!   I logged onto the Compassion site this morning and found that e-mailing your child has become so much nicer.   We can now choose a stationary to send with our letter

And also, (my favorite part) add a photo!!

I cannot wait to write a letter with these new tools!   I hope you feel the same!