I got a new picture of Happyness the other day! :)
Yup, all that oh-so-cute beads and braids hair is GONE!
First, I cried. Then, I laughed. Then I questioned whether or not the picture was actually of Happyness. Then I consulted the pink shirt and I-still-have-hair photo, and deemed both pictures of the same child. Then I cried a bit more, laughed a bit more, and I still this she's the most adorable child ever.
And you know what I just think is really cool and really not all that normal?
I care that a 5-year-old in Tanzania shaved her head.
That is the beauty of child sponsorship. "Starving child in Africa" takes on a whole new meaning, cuz you know what? You know one of those starving children in Africa. You love one of those starving children in Africa. You care. You care about their grades, their health, their birthday, their family, their favourite things...
And yes, you care about their hairstyle. ;)
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Tomorrow (October 19th) is Happyness' birthday.
Will you celebrate with me?
Here's how: Maury and Aleshandra also celebrate their birthday on October 19th... Sponsor one of them? :) Our girls can be birthday buddies. :)
The downtown streets are quieter on holiday Mondays. Fewer people are rushed and most are already at home preparing turkey dinner.
But for some, the downtown streets are their home.
It's those we're seeking out on this Thanksgiving Monday, hoping to hand them a brown bag with a humble lunch inside. A sandwich, a juice box and some snacks... it's not a lot and it's just enough for today. It's literally daily bread.
We're behind one of the biggest malls in the city, my dad and I. There's a little church there, and a few people sit on the steps.
We're not totally sure they're the ones we're looking for, but we offer each of them a bag.
I'm holding out a lunch to a lady with kind eyes and a soft grin. She takes it. "God Bless!" I say. But what if this humble lunch is her most blessed thing all day? The thought hurts me. Makes me want to come everyday to give her a sandwich, get her off the street. But I don't. I'm in school, forgetting about everything important... forgetting to live thanks.
I turn around to rejoin my dad. He's in a conversation with a man he's just given a lunch to. A jolly guy... the kind that reminds you of Santa; not the mall one, the real one.
"You're right on time!" He quips, "That lady over there was jus' sayin' how hungry and starvin' to death she was!" He points to the lady with the kind eyes and soft grin that I'd handed a lunch to. I look back at her and see her take out the sandwich. She looks at me when she sees the note, a bright smile on her face. I smile back.
"So," the jolly guy continues his story, "I went an' bought some lunch," he gestures to another lady holding a small container, barely lunch. Barely a snack. "An' I came and shared it with these guys!" He grins, chuckles a little.
My dad and I smile, finish up the conversation and rejoin my mom and brother.
The jolly guy's story is all I'm thinking about. He has nothing... yet he gives. He himself is hungry, yet he's feeding other hungry people.
If this blog was about encouraging people to feed the hungry {which it is, in case you didn't catch that. ;)}, I think it's case in point right there.
Later, we walk by the same church on our way back to the car. There's even more homeless folks out there now, sitting on the park benches in the square. We're out of bags and of course this makes us feel terrible. I spot the jolly guy again, in the mini-crowd. The other woman, the smiling one, she's fallen asleep on the church steps.
They're all in jackets and it's not winter yet, but the 5 degree weather has my fingers and nose begging for some heat... then I remember that these folks are here for the rest of the day. Through the night, maybe.
And you know what got me, at that exact moment?
The church doors. The doors to heat, shelter and maybe a little hope?
The music, the notes, the words, the thanks, it all floated up to heaven on Saturday night. We've been crescendoing to this for months... and this, the forte... then the fermata - the pause to take it all in - and then the double bar line - it's done!
Still pinching myself that Ann Voskamp came to speak... What a gift she is!
The Compassion table... 5 children from Masbate, Philippines sponsored and many generous donations towards Patnubay Child Development Centre!
A beautiful performance of Prelude to a Rainfall... composed by my cousin and performed by that same cousin on piano and a friend of mine on cello. Check out the beautiful performance here.
It says it there on the sign that asks for a donation if you'd like some cake. Thank you.
And as I empty those bowls of the loonies and toonies and I begin to count, my heart whispers it: Thank you.
Because God doesn't have to use us.
Because He could do it by Himself and broken doesn't have to mean beautiful.
Because He filled that venue and He brought the artists and He spoke through Ann and He gives grace.
Because I am undeserving yet He gives good gifts and when it was all said and done on Saturday night I remembered to whisper it - Thank you.
Thank you for a building built. Thank you for 272 kids who will learn and grow in that building. Thank you for truth and hope that will come out of that place, thank you for the community that surrounds it. Thank you.
