Updates & Prayer.

Look what came in the mail, yesterday! My starter kit for my sponsorship for sweet Joyeuse. You may remember from my previous post that I became Joyeuse's sponsor through Compassion International. The packet arrived yesterday and I cannot wait to send my first letter and photo to this sweet child. My family is equally excited. It was the perfect Thanksgiving gift. She is a beautiful child.

and in other news....

"In all things it is better to Hope than to dispair."

Next Monday, the 30th, will be my appointment with Dr. Abdallah in Reston, VA. 

I am not packed yet but I know that I will have no less than 3 bags to take with me on my trip to the doctor because I am such a horrible over-packer. I don't understand the concept of "traveling light"! ha! I am always worried that I might need something, so I just pack everything! (Plus, sometimes Dr. Abdallah has me stay to run tests or try new medicines and a couple of times we haven't packed to stay...and that was not fun!)

I am nervous about my doctor’s appointment. First, let me say that my doctor is warm, caring and compassionate. I love Dr. Abdallah. He is a gem! I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have him. He validates me and encourages me. He is an answered prayer.

I am nervous because I am afraid that I will leave disappointed or worse-leave not feeling any better. (Which has been the case, the last two appointments that I have had with him.) I know that when I go, there will not be a new, magic drug but there are a few things that I am hoping will come out of this visit. I really hope that my blood pressure and heart rate can be controlled enough that I am not so fatigued all the time and that I am not fainting as often (if at all!).

I humbly ask you, my wonderful friends to pray for this doctor’s appointment. I know that the trip will be physically taxing on my body and I am worried about how sick I will be while traveling, so please pray that my body is relaxed and copes well with the changes and stress of traveling. Please pray that we have a safe drive. My ultimate prayer request for this doctor's appointment is that I FEEL BETTER! Even if that is just a little bit better. Please pray that no matter what the outcome, I feel God's presence and love.

Thank you all for letting me come to you with my prayer requests and worries. I probably won’t be online while we are gone but as soon as I return home and I am rested, I will try and update as soon as possible. Many thanks and love.

I hope you all have wonderful Thanksgivings with your families! For those of you traveling, please have safe trips. This Thanksgiving, I am thankful to have so many wonderful and caring friends who pray and love me. Blessings to you all.

{photo from here.}

I wanted to share sweet Joyeuse!

Hello Everyone.

This sweet little girl is now my sponsored child from Compassion International. I am so excited. Everyone, please meet Joyeuse. She and her family live in Rwanda. After Kelly from Kelly’s Korner went on her Compassion trip to El Salvador, so many blogs I was reading either already sponsored a child through Compassion or they have begun their sponsorship in the past few days. I visited the Compassion website and only two words come to mind: overwhelmed and heartbroken. So many precious faces staring at me...how was I ever going to choose? I started looking through the pages of children from Africa because I have had an affection for Africa for several years that I can’t really explain. So many faces were piercing my heart and then I saw Joyeuse and the tears came rolling down my face and I knew that I had found "my child".

I waited a few days. I didn’t want to rush into this because it is a big commitment and I wanted to make sure that it was something that the Lord wanted me to do. I know that sounds crazy! Why wouldn’t God want me to sponsor one of His precious children? But I wanted to make sure that I heard God and not myself. So, I canceled my Netflix subscription (the money I used for Netflix I am now going to send to help Joyeuse) and I waited a few days. Seriously, I think I have enough movies of my own. I can do without Netflix. Tuesday night, I made if official and I am now Joyeux’s sponsor. I am so happy. I shared it with my family last night and they are equally excited and want to help too. Yay! So, to the many Compassion International Sponsors out there, thank you so much for speaking to my heart.