This is what not sending a Christmas card looks like for me...
Merry Christmas,
I hope this post finds you in the midst of a wonderful holiday season! It’s been a while since I put my fingers to
the keyboard to write from my heart, here goes…
Last year was the year of my great trek to Ethiopia and my life, my
perspective, my view of the world was changed forever. As the days and months have passed since my
trip my memories are no longer front and center. That is until something happens like a story
on the news, a post on Facebook, a conversation with a friend and it all comes
back to me flooding my heart with emotion and I remember what I have seen,
where I have been, and what life is like for my friends that are so far away.
That said, back at home in the good old US-of-A, if I were being
totally honest, I’d have to admit that each year about this time I actually find
myself thinking about how much others have in comparison to how much I
have. Typing those words I can hear in
my head how insanely ridiculous that is.
I have more than absolutely everything I could ever possibly need. This year has not been without challenges,
but also not without so much joy and blessing and the Lord has more than
provided time and time again.
As we prepare for Christmas, Jim is launching a new home renovation
business, Katie is wrapping up her senior year (hard to believe), and Ashley is
headed off to college in the fall. I
decided that for the first time ever I would forgo the expense of a Christmas
card. Instead, as I have intended to
write all year, perhaps I would write a Christmas blog. That is where the idea has sat. I think my family is in shock and I keep
hearing “you’re really not sending a card”?
Even my friends know that by mid-summer I’m snapping towards that
perfect Christmas card photo.
Every day
I get another Shutterfly or Snapfish email with another coupon and I log on and
almost push the button on creating a card and then I stop and remind myself I
will write a blog. No blog has come… no
blog until today, until I got a message on Facebook about Ajuuja. It was as if I had just gotten off the plane
yesterday. My heart was filled with
emotion, my eyes were tearing up, and I felt an absolute need to do something,
anything to help! Ajuuja is the
orphanage I visited in Ethiopia and the message was that they are in the midst
of desperate times. Not my version of
hard times, but really honest to goodness “can we feed the babies” hard times. Then I knew I had to write and I knew what I
had to write about.
“...things are getting tighter and tighter with Ajuuja. Agency support
has basically stopped aside from Bethany.
There are about 50 kids at the orphanage. They even shared last time how they are
trying not to accept more but when one is brought to their door...how do you
say no? While our last team was there
they had run out of funds for formula and were having to use regular milk.”
When I think back to
my visit to the orphanage I remember the beautiful children, the sweet nannies,
and my friends that oversee the orphanage. I know in my heart that these people were handpicked by God. Without Ajuuja there would be little hope for
these children.
My family decided
last year that instead of receiving a stocking full of treats we would start a
tradition of putting those funds towards helping others in need. This year we will continue that tradition and
donate to Ajuuja in hopes that we can in some small way help. Perhaps
our donation will make the difference that provides formula on the shelf or
even better - a “room at the inn”. Now there is a Christmas story to tell! How much better is that than a Christmas
stocking full of things we don’t need and will never miss?
The other day I heard someone say that we should “Pause to Celebrate
the Birth of a King…”
Pausing doesn't quite seem sufficient. Almost seems completely insufficient. We should come to a ceasing halt to celebrate the birth of the King. Why then does it seem like we speed up? We get more hurried, more stressed, more anxious, perhaps even more materialistic and worried about things that make no real difference at all. We should really just stop. Stop in our tracks and be thankful, so thankful. And then with hearts filled with overwhelming joy, we should respond. We should focus on making a difference. We should show up!
Pausing doesn't quite seem sufficient. Almost seems completely insufficient. We should come to a ceasing halt to celebrate the birth of the King. Why then does it seem like we speed up? We get more hurried, more stressed, more anxious, perhaps even more materialistic and worried about things that make no real difference at all. We should really just stop. Stop in our tracks and be thankful, so thankful. And then with hearts filled with overwhelming joy, we should respond. We should focus on making a difference. We should show up!
During this Christmas season I’d ask that you pray for the orphanage,
the nannies, the little ones that call Ajuuja home, and the ones that haven’t
even arrived at their doorsteps yet.
They need our prayers; they need us to show up.
We wish you a year filled with amazing opportunities to show up
and a joyful heart to show for it!
Merry Christmas from the Stella family to yours.
_______________________
Donations to help Ajuuja can be made at:
To Sponsor a child, email charisa@projecthopeful.org
PS: I wish that I could show you pictures of the beautiful children at Ajuuja, but I cannot. I can however, show you some friends I met along the way. There smiles only begin to capture the beauty of a truly beautiful people!
