When I decided a few months ago to sponsor a 2nd child through Compassion, I thought it would be fun to find a child that I had some sort of connection to, rather than just picking a random picture off the website. I searched by birthdate, and found an 8-year-old boy named Abhin that has the same birthday as I do. So of course when our birthdays rolled around this year, I sent him a gift. You can’t actually send presents to Compassion children, but you can send a monetary gift that the child can spend as he or she chooses. I used their website to send him a $25 gift, and then went back to my normally scheduled life and forgot all about it.
On Monday, I received a letter from. He wrote that he used the money I sent him to buy a cot. This is what he wrote:
Earlier, my mother and me were sleeping on the floor Now we are able to sleep on the cot. It is very comfortable. I do thanks for your gift. I do pray for you. May God bless you abundantly.
That stopped me in my tracks. $25 that I’d charged to my credit card without a second thought meant the difference between sleeping on the floor or on a cot for this boy. A cot that I would most likely not willingly sleep on because I didn’t think it was comfortable.
Then a couple more things occurred to me:
- The sheets that are on my bed right now cost more than $25.
- My pillow cost more than $25.
- The crate my dog sleeps in cost more than $25.
- I could spend $25 on something completely unnecessary without even blinking
Talk about a reality check…
Filed under: Finances
Ok I’m not kidding when I say this, I’m totally crying at this. Tanner is like what’s wrong what happened?… as I weep over your blog. Wow. That’s amazing. I feel so selfish. I want to send your sponsored child another $25 for another cot…. Wow.
Wow Jen! thats great! im with Shleby. im to the point of tears and i want to send 25 bucks to him and his mom too! God bless him!
That is so awesome!! I have said this and will continue to….sponsoring a child through Compassion is the single greatest decision I have made in my adult life (obviously besides marriage and children). My little boy is too young to write, but I treasure letters from his mom!
This post renewed my love for this ministry! Thanks for posting!!!
That’s awesome, Jen! I sponsor a child through Compassion as well- her name is Ana, and I picked her because she shares my birthday too! She turned nine a few months ago. That’s so great that you got a letter from your child telling you what he bought with the money you sent. What a powerful reminder of how beyond blessed we are, and how great an impact we can make in others’ lives.
WoW. I got teary too. And it reminds me to be thankful for everything because there is so much need in the world. Hey can you send me a link or something for Compassion. I’ve been interested in sponsoring a child or family but was a little leary. But this Compassions sounds like the real thing.
good one..