I'm Just A Bit Upset!
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Men's Monday Meme

I'm just a little bit put out right now! I am not a member of Mr. Linky. If I were a member, then all of the Mr. Linky's for all of my Men's Monday Meme's would stay active. Instead, whenever I post a new Linky, the previous one that was open shuts down. However, there was always a link you could press that would bring up the links to all of the people that posted on that particular Men's Monday Meme. Well, today I was checking one of those links and found that it wasn't working. I am just a bit upset. I value the bloggers that contribute to my Linky and want them to get credit. So, here's what I'm going to do! I'm going to make a special section over to the left of this blog for all that have ever contributed to my Men's Monday Meme. When someone new contributes, I'll add them to my "Men's Monday Meme Hall of Fame"! If they never contribute again, then so be it. They will still be added. Even though meme's are fun,  one reason folks join meme's is for blog exposure. They want people to hop over to their blogs. I want to respect that and give folks a special thank you as well. I am kind of trying to do this by memory, so, if I happen to miss your name, please forgive me and just comment below so that I can add you. I am going to shoot off an email to the Mr. Linky people to see what the matter is, but until then, please except my apology.

Thanks for all of your support of the Men's Monday Meme,

Tim

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Men's Monday Meme - I had a friend write to me and...
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Men's Monday Meme

Actually, it was an old friend...and he didn't write to me, he Facebooked me...and it was very short. Here's what happened.

If you don't know that we are supporters of Compassion International by now, you are either very new to my blog or you have had your head stuck in the sand. We presently are the financial supporters for one child, Marcelo, from Bolivia and we are correspondence sponsors for three other children ~ Feyber from Colombia, Somi from Indonesia and Emmanuel from Tanzania. We love Compassion almost as much as we love our own mission, BCM International, and are always trying to get folks involved in either ministry.

The other day, a Compassion friend of mine...actually the man that got me started with Compassion...invited me to join the Facebook group "Help the poor in Bolivia". Since we sponsor Marcelo from Bolivia, I thought it would be a neat group to join.

Almost immediately I got a response from an old childhood friend of mine. First let me give you some background as to this friend. He was a couple of years younger than me and we went to church together and hung out a little bit together. Emphases on little bit. A couple of years ago I reconnected with him through facebook. We may have posted something on each others wall maybe once or twice and that has been the extent of it.

So, what did this old friend write? Nothing spectacular, just the phrase "Let's help the poor in the United States first!" That was it. At first I thought it was amusing. I didn't take offense at all...until...I went to respond to his comment and found that he had unfriended me! After finding that out, I though, "Wow! He must really be serious.!"

I went through a series of emotions. At first I was bewildered. Then I soon became a little angry. Obviously he hadn't done his research regarding what Sarah and I do. We spend much more money on the poor here where we live than what we would ever spend supporting Compassion kids. Then I became a little angrier. I mean, how dare him criticize me whether he knows what I do for a living or not. It is my business how I spend my money.

Don't get me wrong, obviously I think it is important to take care of our own first, then branch out from there. I am probably using this verse very much out of context, but I ascribe by this verse found in Acts 1:8b:

...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

I try to begin at home, then to the US in general then around the world. We have our ministry here. We occasionally will minister or send our money to help others around the United States. Then we minister abroad.

So, that brings me to this weeks Men's Monday Meme question...actually you know me...it's a series of questions.

What do you think? Should we only help those here at home and forget those abroad? Have those abroad "gotten themselves into their own mess", and we need to clean up our own "messes"? Is it anyone's business what we do with our time and money? Please give me your thoughts on this topic.

Here are the rules:

1. This is a man's meme, so the answers must be the answers from a man. Either the man can answer on his blog, or a wife can interview her husband for her blog. However, if the wife puts it on her blog, she must stay true to what her husband said.
2. You are encouraged to put one of the Men's Monday Meme buttons found to the left on your blog. Just copy the code below the button of your choice. The more folks who link, the more readers you may have to visit your blog.
3. You may answer the question any time during the week up through next Monday. After you answer the question, add the address to your post to the Mr.Linky below. If you could, please only add the direct link to the post to make it easier for readers to find the entry.
4. My answer along with a new question will be posted next Monday. The new Mr. Linky will be added at midnight Monday night or sometime within the next couple of days after that .

And here's the new Mr. Linky:

 

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We've Up and Done it Again!
Mood:  happy
Topic: Compassion International

Yep, we've up and done it again! We've adopted another Compassion International child.  Oh, don't worry, he's another correspondence child. Remember, a correspondence child is one that someone else sponsors but for some reason they either don't want to or are unable to write to them. Writing is a very important part of the Compassion program. It ranks right up there with the sponsoring. Feyber and Somi are our other correspondence children. Marcelo is the only one that we sponsor at this time.

Anyway, his name is Emmanuel (Isn't that a neat name! Emmanuel - God with us!). And, the exciting thing is that he is from an area of the world that we don't sponsor any other child from - Africa! Tanzania to be exact! And, the other really neat thing is that he is an older child. In fact, on his next birthday he will be 19 years old! The boys are excited to have an older brother, and we are excited to have an older son. I have already sent off one of the email type letters to him. Remember, the email doesn't go directly to him, but is sent directly to Africa where it will be printed out and translated - it doesn't have to be sent through the main headquarters in Colorado first. The email is quicker, but doesn't allow us to send anything to them. We have packets of things almost all ready to go for our other three boys. Now we have to get a packet ready for Emmanuel as well. Please pray with us as we try to help these impoverished children from around the world. It is exciting but also sobering for us to think that these boys respect and really value the advice and guidance that we give. Please pray that we will give good, Godly advice to them.

 

Please be in prayer regarding sponsoring a child through Compassion International. If you are interested, just click here or on the flashing sign way at the top of my blog. If you have any questions, I would love to answer them. Feel free to ask. My email is tink38570@yahoo.com. It is a very rewarding experience.

By the way, for those of you who have been waiting patiently for the new Men's Monday Meme question, it will be posted tomorrow. And, it will be a doozy!

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Lesson Planet - This is a Poor Sad Story
Mood:  blue
Topic: Homeschool Product Review

Let me tell you a story...a poor sad story. 

There was once a poor homeschool parent whose son was studying United States History. This son loved to read. He read almost everything that he could get his hands on...when he wasn't playing his video games of course. This wise parent thought that, since his son liked to read, he should try to use curriculum that involved interesting books. He found a fantastic history curriculum that did involve reading good novels and doing some unit studies. But...alas...this parent couldn't buy all of the materials for the poor pitiful son that so needed them.

"Not to worry," the father said to himself. "I can make my own unit studies to fill in the gaps. They can't be that hard to put together."

But oh how mistaken he was. Try as he did, he could not find anything but bits and pieces of unit studies to use with his knowledge yearning child. He found what he could and presented it to the boy. The poor child dove in to what his father gave him, but, like a hungry urchin that is only given a few tasty morsels to eat, he longed for more. Alas, the father could find no more, nor could he afford to buy the expensive food for thought that was recommended. The child would just have to wait and make do with what he had.

Then one day, along came a stranger. This stranger was no ordinary stranger. Her name was Brenda. It was her job to assign new and exciting homeschool items to a group called the "TOS Homeschool Crew". She reminded this poor father and his son that they indeed were part of this TOS team and should cheer up for help was on its way. She then proceeded to hand them a package. It looked just like an ordinary package on the outside, but to this poor homeschool father and his son, it was like holding a package of gold. For inside the wrapper was a piece of paper. On this paper were two words, both of six letters. The two words were "Lesson Planet". With a quizzical look on his face, the father looked up to ask Brenda what these peculiar words meant. But, she was gone. Gone like the wind to help another struggling homeschool family. 

But what was the father to do with these words? How could they help in his dilemma? After much thinking his highly intelligent son suggested Googling the words on their computer. Soon he typed in the twelve letters and clicked on the first entry that came up. When he did, the most amazing thing happened. It was as if this poor man and his lad had lived their life in black and white and everything was transfigured into a colorful new world.

It wasn't their physical world that had been transformed, however, it was their homeschool world. You see, Lesson Planet is a lesson plan site, that had lesson plans for everything! Quickly the father typed in Canada. Canada was one of those pitiful unit studies that the diligent father tried but failed to put together for his son. Immediately after typing the words, 5976 lesson plans came into view, along with 425 worksheets and 90 websites about Canada. And the lesson plans were diverse! They had studies for all grades and all levels. They had lesson plans for Canada in general or for specific things regarding Canada. There were plans for Canadian geography, history and social studies. There were worksheets for famous people or national parks of Canada. They even had things that talked about the agriculture, forestry or farming in that great country that is to our north. The man was amazed, and soon his son became excited as well. Next they looked up World War One and World War Two and got similar results. A search of South America was just as fruitful. And it was all organized so nicely.

They searched and they looked and they dreamed all day. His father had never seen such joy and excitement in his son. Until, suddenly, the father noted that his boy was silent. As he glanced around he noticed tears trickling down the lads face. "But Father," the poor boy said softly "how much does all of this cost? We surely could not sell nearly enough eggs at the market to afford such luxury." Sadly the father nodded his head, clicked off the computer and they slowly went off to bed. They never expected to see the wonders of Lesson Planet again.

That night, however, the father had a dream. He tossed and turned in bed and kept hearing voices. They were the soft voices of Brenda and her kind boss Heidi. They kept saying "Check the price! Check the price!" Finally the father could stand it no longer. He quietly got up, went to the computer and clicked it on. He typed in the name of the wondrous Lesson Planet website and fearfully clicked on the pricing information. For a moment he couldn't fathom what was staring him in the face. He adjusted his bifocals to make sure that he was seeing it correctly. But, no, he wasn't incorrect! It was true! The price was only $39.95 a year! "Why," the father thought "that is well within our meager homeschool budget!"

Suddenly the father heard a sound behind him. It was his son. "Father?" the boy asked with a concerned look. Quickly the father got up and embraced his son. There were again tears, but this time they were tears of joy. And they were streaming down both of their faces. Finally, a miracle has come. A miracle that could now enable the son to have the education that he so richly deserved. An education that would allow the son to go on to college and bring his poor family out of the impoverished state that they were presently in.

Later, the father went back to bed. This time he slept peacefully and had wonderful dreams. Again they were of our heroes Brenda and Heidi. They were giving the father a command. "Tell them!" they said. "Tell the world! Tell them that they, too, can be blessed by Lesson Planet. All they have to do is click here or on one of the hi-lighted links above. Tell them that we have also spread the joy of Lesson Planet to other members of the TOS Homeschool Crew and you can find out what they think by clicking here." And so the father did. He spread the news far and near. Over hill and over dale. And he and his son lived happily ever after.

The End

 

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Thursday's Child - Heroes Don't Always Wear Capes
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Compassion International

I know it's a little early for Thursday's Child, but I wanted you to read this post. Digest it tonight, then I will post a follow-up post tomorrow. The follow-up post may not be what you expect. In fact, if you follow me on Facebook, you will get a hint of what tomorrows post will be all about. What I want for you to do tonight, if you will, is to read the following post, pray about what God would have you to do with it, and then stop back by tomorrow for the follow-up. Here's the link. Because of copywrite issues, I can't just copy and paste it here. Sorry for any incomvenience.

http://blog.compassion.com/not-all-heroes-wear-capes/

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