A Letter from One of My Kids - Thursday's Child Mood:
happy Topic: Compassion International
Can you believe it? I actually posted something on the day it's supposed to be posted on! Usually my Men's Monday Meme is posted on any day but Monday, and Thursday's Child is normally Wednesday's or Friday's Child. Finally I get it right!
Anyway, I very rarely do this, but thought I would today. I normally don't post the letters that I get from my kids. Why? Well, one, they are personal. My family loves each and every one of our Compassion kids. We often write personal things to them. Things that are from our hearts just to them. They in turn often share their hearts with us. That brings me to reason number two. I would never ever want to betray their trust. They trust us with their thoughts, their hearts, their wants, their needs, their hurts, their anger, their joy...their lives. Even thought we have some kids that have never ever seen a computer, let alone know what a blog is, I still would not want to hurt them.
So, why am I choosing to post one of the letters today? Well, because Somi is very young, just turned 10 to be exact. He doesn't even write his own letters yet. Someone from the Compassion project that he attends helps him write them. And, the letter that I'm about to share just gives you enough of an idea of what sponsoring and corresponding with a child is like. Enjoy!
Remember, Somi is from Indonesia and lives in a home that has a dirt floor, wood walls and a thatched roof made of grass or leaves. This letter has been translated for us. Therefore, some of the language may seem awkward, but that is often the fun of getting the letters. Remember also that some of these kids, including Somi, have never received or written a letter in there lives.
Hello! I'm here in a good health.
Thank you very much for the letter you sent me. I read in your letter that Joshua got a little accident! I pray for Joshua, hope he gets well soon.
It's often rainy here.
I prefer play outside to stay at home.
We got a small flood last week.
Please keep praying for me, my family and friends from ID-412 project.
I'm still going to the project, school and Sunday school regularly.
I always pray for you and family.
May God bless you all and your ministry too.
Somi
Have you ever thought of sponsoring a child with Compassion International. Please pray about it. For the price of a meal out with you family you could be helping a child like Somi. It is a joy to sponsor. Just click here to get to Compassion's web page to find out more.
How Long is Long Enough When You Grieve? Mood:
not sure Topic: General
I just read a post from a blogging friend of mine on a forum that we both belong to. She lost her mother about a month ago. It was a rough loss. Her mother had made some wrong choices. Now she's stuck with trying to sort through her mothers things, help her dad move, and dealing with her dad's and her own grief. She's going through a rough time. She just wants to sleep and eat all of the time. She forces herself to "put on a happy face" for herself and those around her. She's lost all interest in things. She wonders if she should still be feeling this way after a month. The other folks on the forum gave her some good advice and assured her that one month was not too long to grieve.
But I wonder. How long is too long. Her post conjured up many memories of the past ten years or so. It seems like since we became missionaries 13 years ago, Satan has constantly attacked. Deaths in our family. Deaths of close friends. Untrue accusations. Misunderstood actions. A stillborn child. A child with cancer. A child with autism. A child with genetic problems. I could go on and on.
Some of the problems have been our fault, some not. All I can say is that we have always tried to serve the Lord. Have we made mistakes? Yes. But we've always tried to do our best.
All of these things cause pain. Grief. Some more than others. Some less. If I allowed myself to, I could grieve forever. At one time I thought that I would grieve forever.
That's where the Lord stepped in. He always knows. He's always there. He knows my comings and goings. He knows what has happened in the past. He knows what will happen tomorrow. He knows how long I need to grieve.
Grieving isn't bad. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. He mourned for his people. He pleaded for God to take away the cup that He was about to bear.
Grieving is often good. Allowing our emotions to come out is good. Releasing our tears is good.
How long is it okay to grieve? It is different for everyone. Different for every situation. Only God knows what is right for you. Our responsibility is to give it to God. Allow God to work. Listen to God's still small voice. Allow God to bear your burdens. He will, you know. He takes everything that is placed at His feet. Those beautiful feet. Those nail scarred feet. Yes, He knows about grief and He knows about us. Give it all to Him. He may tell us to grieve some more. He may heal our hurts. But, whatever He does tell us to do, it will be His perfect will for our lives.
Thank you, Lord, for grief. It's not usually what we want, but often it is what we need. We need it for so many ways. We need it for You to show us your miracles and Your ways. We need it so that we can help others in the same situation someday. We need it so that You can show us You. Help us to seek Your face when it comes to grief. Help us to seek your will. Help us to lay it all at your feet and to accept the answer that you give us. Thank you, Lord, for knowing what is best for us. Thank you for guiding us. Thank you, Lord, for grief. Amen
Okay, I'm a day late and a dollar short. But, you know me, that's the story of my life.
Anyway, I've been having a discussion on a forum that I belong to about funny things that our kids do or say. I happened to mention that with the last name of Tinkel, there are bound to be a lot of humorous things that have happened. Then I thought "What a wonderful topic for the Men's Monday Meme".
I'll begin the discussion by mentioning the three things that I told the other great folks.
1. When I was in high school, my middle name mysteriously changed to "Gotta". Remember, now, my last name is "Tinkel" !
2. To this day there is a group of my cousins that do not use the term tinkle to mean going to the potty. I'm not even sure they know what that term means, although, how can they not know? We used it at in our house as kind of a joke. I mean, people were going to joke about it anyway, so it's kind of like "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" !
3. You have to be really careful about what you name your children when you have the last name of Tinkel...Ivana would just not work .
Okay, now your turn. The childhood memories that you write about don't have to be about your name. They could be anything funny about growing up. Something funny that you said or did, a humorous tradition, something funny that grandpa or grandma did...anything really! I'm sure you can think of something. I have more that I'm thinking of right now, but I'll save those for another day!
Here are the rules for this meme:
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.
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.
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.
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 .
I'm Awalkin'! In Fact, I'm Walked Out! Mood:
lazy Topic: TOS Crew Blog Hop
Okay, Okay! So I said I was going to tell you all about our day at Dollywood! Well, we did have a fantastic day, but, after all of the walking, I'm just too tired to download the pictures and tell you all about our fantasticly wet and scary day (not to worry, only scared because of my fear of heights!). So, since I'm so tired from walking, what am I going to write about tonight? More walking! Or, to be exact, TOS Blog Hopping.
Remember, there are over 250 of us on the TOS Homeschool Crew this year, and the crew members this year have some fantastic and creative blogs. And the group is very diverse as well. Hop on over to the blogs listed below and pay them a visit. I'm sure you'll find one you like! Just click on the title of the blog and you'll be there. Have fun!
It Really Does Work! I Promise! Mood:
a-ok Topic: General
Well, we're in Pigeon Forge at a fantastic hotel, getting ready to go to Dollywood tomorrow. I'll blog all about it tomorrow!
And! I'm finally using my own computer! Sarah's brother Franklin fixed it. He had to reformat one of our old hard drives and he couldn't recover anything off of the one in the computer. Thankfully, I didn't lose much, a few lapbooks, a couple of ebooks. I think I can get most of the things I lost back. At any rate, I am sure glad to be back on my own laptop. It feels very comfortable underneath my fingers .
In the meantime, I'm surfing and racking up even more swagbucks! I am here to tell you, it really does work. I am about 3 swagbucks away from my seventh (yes 7th!) $5 Amazon gift card. I haven't spent any of them yet because I am still planning next year's homeschool. I have the basics down, but still shopping around. But, I can tell you that swagbucks work! All I do is search using the swagbucks too bar! I love it. There are other ways to get swagbucks, but I don't bother a lot with those. I surf and promote. When I promote and folks sign up under me I get some "bucks" every time they get "bucks". So, I'm disclosing now, that if you click on the above banner and sign up for swagbucks, you'll be signing up under me. Is there anything better than helping a poor homeschool dad, though?!? Thanks ahead of time.