Live to Give!

What a GREAT message! I would like to share with you today an excerpt from Joel Osteen's "30 Thoughts for Victorious Living".......hope you enjoy i know i did and i found it appropriate for our blog given our commitment to spread the word that we all can help and be a blessing to others thru Christ!

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over... (Luke 6:38).

God wants you to be happy! He wants you to live a satisfied life. Jesus said, "I have come that you might have and enjoy life, and have it to the full - until it overflows!" A major key to enjoying life is that we live to give.
True happiness and true fulfillment come when you give of your life in some way to others. God promises to multiply back to you what you give. When you step out in faith, you open a door for God's hand of blessing to move on your behalf. It's the simple principle of sowing and reaping.
God has a specific plan for every one of our lives. His plan involves reaching out and touching other people with His love, mercy, and compassion. Ask the Lord to show you how you can share His love with others by giving of your time, your talents and your resources today.

Prayer for Today:
Dear Father, thank You for the precious opportunity to share Your love and compassion with others today. I know that as i step out to give of myself, You will use me to be a blessing to others. Thank you for Your goodness and mercy, which follow me all the days of my life.

Wonderful and Concise Explanation of Compassion International's Program!

I found this on another incredible blogger's site that is also trying to do their part in spreading the word of the WONDERFUL work that Compassion International is doing for children affected by poverty all around the world! Please take the 3.5 minutes it takes to watch this video if you are curious to know how Compassion International's program works as compared to some other similar organizations... it is a phenomenal and SUCESSFUL approach - God Bless and i pray that you may be led to consider supporting this cause and getting involved at whatever level you are able :)

Love is Contagious!!

What a blessing - another beautiful child has been sponsored!!!! My dear friend and prayer partner Kathryn decided to commit to sponsoring a little girl last Saturday! Her name is Camila, she is 5 years old and absolutely PRECIOUS! I want to say how proud and excited i am that love and compassion for children is SO contagious!! Kathryn and i spoke yesterday about our shared excitement and anticipation about getting to build meaningful relationships with these amazing children - we have decided that it is our long term goal to actually travel together to Bolivia to visit our little girls and see first hand the Compassion International student centers - please pray for us and for our little girls as we pray for guidance and grace to bless and love these children as God would have it! :) God Bless and please continue to spread the word!

Great News!!! Already we are spreading God's Love and Helping more Children in Need!

Thank you SOOOO MUCH to all of those who have taken the time to visit this blog and hopefully are sharing it with others!! Already we have AMAZING news to report!! Another child has been sponsored!!
My mom, Maureen has prayerfully and lovingly committed to sponsor Marisol, a 12 year old girl who lives in the same town as my Blanca, in Bolivia. This is such an incredible commitment of time, love, and finance - Congratulations MOM!!! and Thank you for being another shining example of Chirst's love for children everywhere!!!! I know that this experience will bring great blessings for Marisol AND you!!!!! Let's keep up the good work and continue to spread this message of HOPE for the children in this wonderful program!! God Bless you all and have a wonderful day!! :)

Really INCREDIBLE Story - please watch! :)

I am posting this video (directly to the right of this text) and i encourage anyone with 7 minutes to spare to PLEASE consider watching it!! It is TRULY moving and well worth the time!!
If you would prefer to click and watch directly on youtube here is the link :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15PkhdfAKQw

God Speaks to us in Amazing ways!

Ok, so second day of being a "blogger" - i think i am going to like this ;) ... as i mentioned in my last post i prayed a lot over the decision to commit to sponsoring a child because it is a big commitment (for me anyway) both financially and personally.... and the first things some asked me when i told them what i had done was, "but your budget is so tight and you don't have extra money - how can you commit now? shouldn't you wait until you are in a "better" place?" ...well, to that my "logical" answer would be "yeah, probably so......." but i KNEW that it was God moving me to do this and Him stirring it around in my heart- as many of you may relate to - that is not always EASY to explain without coming off sounding a little strange or even silly to some..... BUT, i stick by my story and rationale.
This morning, i received the "Purpose Driven Life" devotional as i do every morning and it was as though God was listening to all of those conversations yesterday and sensed my "logical" uneasiness and spoke directly to me once again!! Here was today's devotional - i hope all who read it can take from it hope and faith to step out in their own lives and own ways to do something that has been rattling around in their hearts! :)

Risks in Faith: Where God Guides, God Provides
by Rick Warren

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 (NIV)

*** *** *** ***

If God tells you to do something, he will give you the energy, talent, resources – whatever you need – to do it. Where God guides, he provides.

In 1979, I was finishing seminary in Texas when God said, “I want you to go to the Saddleback Valley and start a church.” There were two problems with that: I had never been a senior pastor, and I didn’t know anything about the Saddleback Valley; I’d never been there, and I didn’t know a single person there.

But my wife, Kay, and I decided to take a risk and launch out in faith. We loaded a U-Haul truck and moved with our four-month-old daughter to the Saddleback Valley.

We arrived during rush hour in January, 1980. I grew up in a town of fewer than 500 people, so when I saw the jam-packed freeway, I thought God had chosen the wrong guy.

But where God guides, God provides. We stopped at a real estate office and I met Don Dale. I said, “My name is Rick Warren and I'm here to start a new church. I need a place to live and I don’t have any money.”

Within two hours, Don found us a condo with the first month rent-free. Don also became the first member of Saddleback Church. Saddleback’s first service was in our home with just seven people – my family and Don’s family.

God began bringing others to join us in planting a church. And in April of 1980, 205 people streamed up the ramp at Laguna Hills High School for our first public worship service. It was amazing. I thought, “God! You have provided! This is the place we’re supposed to be.”

Kay and I believed in the dream and the vision that God gave us for the Saddleback Valley, and we followed that dream, even when it involved risks. If you’re going to live by faith, you’re going to have to take some risks. In some situations, you’ll wonder if God is going to come through. But keep believing – because where God guides, God provides.

© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.

if you would like to start receiving this wonderful and insightful daily devotional please visit: http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/Home/home.htm then click on "free tools"

Just getting started

Well this is the first time i have ever "blogged" in fact, i just had to email a friend and ask how and what exactly you do to "blog"......seems in this day and age i should have already known - but i guess we learn something new EVERYday :)
At any rate, my sudden interest in the blogger world came about earlier today when after months of thought and prayer i finally decided to sign up to sponsor a child thru Compassion International! My boss, Ron has been sponsoring a little boy for quite some time and has really enjoyed it- he is the one who initially planted the seed in my heart about it, then months later God reminded me of the cause during a sermon at church when my Pastor mentioned that he sponsored several children thru the same organization... well two clear messages and several months of thinking have finally gotten me HERE :)
Today i officially committed to sponsoring a child thru Compassion International! Her name is Blanca, she is 6 years old, and living in Bolivia and i cannot WAIT to get my start-up kit and begin building a meaningful and special relationship with her! She is the most adorable little girl i have ever seen and there are so many more like Blanca who are waiting for sponsors to commit to them! You can search for children to sponsor by gender, age, country, etc or you can let them select for you. Each child only has one sponsor so you really get to have a positive impact on a child's life in a VERY REAL way! The financial commitment is $32 per month- but the effect it can have on a child's life is PRICELESS! Please take a minute and check out their website and see for yourself what it is all about! :)

On the Compassion International website there is all this talk about blogging for this effort and so i decided i finally had a reason to look into it and start!
...........here goes..........wish me luck ;) and special thanks to Ron for sharing this wonderful organization with me so that too would be able to get involved! :)