Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity

Have you read Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity? If you haven't I highly recommend reading it (make sure you order the 20th anniversary edition). You can read the first chapter on Amazon.com! It's a powerful book that has me thinking. The author has the reader imagine what it would be like to be poor, really poor. Imagine living like 1.2 billion people- we would live in a backyard shed without:

access to education/school, books, electricity, running water, newspapers, the Internet, mail, your pantry, any savings.

We would have the clothes on our backs, maybe $5, a kitchen table, a chair, maybe some dried beans, moldy potatoes and some onions.

It sounds awful, hard, brutal but it's reality for more than a billion people! This is weighing heavy on my heart.

I think of the children we left behind in Igor's orphanage, the street children in Ethiopia, the children living in the slums of Mexico, Honduras and Costa Rica... I can picture them in my mind, I can see their eyes and I wonder what I can do to help.

I wonder if what we are doing (compassion children, KIVA loans, etc.) to help the 1.2 billion is enough? And then I get overwhelmed... 1.2 billion people... our family cannot do it alone.

This week I was on a conference call to learn what we can do in Ethiopia to change lives. Check out Karen's blog. Here's the key question she asks:

Would you consider partnering with me and a few other families as we return to Ethiopia in November with Children's Hopechest (www.hopechest.org)? We will be visiting several orphanages and care-points during our trip, with plans to develop them into long-term care-points.

So am I going on the trip in Nov/Dec? I'm not sure. I am praying about it. But I know one thing, we are incredibly blessed.. and when managing our budget and household finances I know that we have more than many and we can sacrifice more to help others.

Why did I live in an orphanage?

Sunday night Igor could not sleep. I checked on him a couple times but he was wide a wake staring at the ceiling. I asked him what he was thinking about. This is always a dangerous question to ask when Igor cannot sleep. Sometimes he uses the answer as a stall tactic to stay awake but Sunday night he had something heavy on his mind- the orphanage.

Igor asked why did I live in an orphanage? I took a deep breath, whispered a quick prayer and shared the high level details with him. Then he wanted to know how long it would take to travel to his orphanage from the USA. He also wanted to know how long it would take to travel to Henry's orphanage. Igor asked about the conditions in his orphanage. He use to remember the details of the orphanage but he has forgotten many things. I shared with him what the orphanage was like, what it smelled like, what I saw.... He said he wanted to visit the orphanage and see it. I said we could do that. He asked if we could go the next day! I told him we could see it when he was older.

Next it was Rob's turn. Igor wanted to know "how did you know me?" Rob said we saw you when the adoption agency sent us your picture and we knew that Igor would be our son. Igor wanted to know when we met and why we left him in the orphanage and came back for him months later.


After a while Igor seemed satisfied with the information we had given him and he was ready to go to sleep. I wonder what you are thinking about sweet boy......

School has started

Ah, the first day of school. Henry must have sensed the routine was going to change today because he woke up at 4AM to make sure he didn't miss a thing. I was able to get him back to sleep until 5:11AM. When Igor woke up Rob asked him if he knew why today was special. Igor said, "No." Rob said it was the first day of school. Igor replied, "Oh ya."

When I was in elementary school the first day I would wake up with a tummy-ache. I was always nervous about school, my teacher, etc. I am glad Igor is so laid back about the first day of school. I did wake up with a tummy-ache but I am pretty sure it was the salt water taffy I ate yesterday afternoon and not the first day of school jitters!

We all went to the bus stop for the first day of school. Henry loves to wave at all the buses that come by the house. This year we have 5 elementary school buses that pass by our house within 20 minutes of one another. Henry yells, "Buuuuh" (bus) then waves.

Happy first day of school Igor! I hope you love first grade.

Beach week

Last week we went to the beach. This was Henry's first time and he loved it! We had a great vacation.

On the beach we met another couple who adopted from Ethiopia! Henry and David are both 2 years old. They had a great time playing together.

Henry loves to roll in the sand and be in the water

Vacations can make you very sleepy

Igor loved to ride the waves

Henry has no fear of the water- he will jump in the pool with or without a life jacket.... he is ready for swim lessons!

AWAA Africa Reunion

In the last few weeks we have taken several trips and Henry has become a barnacle again. I think it was too many places and people in a short amount of time. He loved our visits but at home he is uneasy. Two weeks ago Henry got the suitcase out then started packing. We weren't going on a trip but I thought it was very telling that Henry thought it was time to pack. I knew we were going to the beach last week, school starts this week and then the reunion would be next. I thought it would be too much for Henry so we won't be going to the reunion.

Last week we went to the beach. Henry loved it but when we went to church yesterday he clung to me when I took him to the nursery. Today we went to the school to met Igor's teacher. Henry assumed the barnacle position the entire time we were at school and then again in the library.
For those of you going to the reunion, I hope you have a great time. I hope to meet/see you all next time!

Meme, cousins and more

Last week we went to Rob's parents and visited Meme in the hospital.


Meme was released from the hospital on Friday!



Igor had a great time with his cousins!

When we returned home I FINALLY saw deer in our yard. I knew they visited my garden but I have never seen them in the yard.
I was able to take a (terrible) picture of one before they ran off into the neighbor's yard.

School starts in less than 2 weeks! Henry, Igor and I will be savoring the last few days of summer vacation.

Orphan's Ticket Home

Many of our world's children are orphaned and have no hope for adoption or to be reunited with family. America World has created an Orphan's Ticket Home campaign. Their desire is to see more orphans have the chance to come home to their forever families.

If you live near Nashville, TN please consider attending the Orphan's Ticket Home Gala! It's this Saturday at Gaylord Springs Golf Club in Nashville. The Guest Speaker is Tom Davis, author of Red Letters and Fields of the Fatherless. The money raised will help make it possible for orphaned children to be adopted! For more information on the Gala please click here.

If you enjoy Igor's art work, the following painting will be auctioned off at the gala.

Operation sleep!

About two months ago we started operation sleep. Our goal was to get Henry to sleep until 6:15AM. We adjusted the goal slightly and we can finally say - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! For about 10 days Henry has slept until 5:50AM and stayed in his room until 6AM. This is so much better than waking up between 3:30 and 4:30AM!
Sleep glorious sleep, it feels so good!