Three

I Got this from Jill last night:

So we are off to another compassion student center today. We will see a Child Survival Program and a sponsorship program. I'm sure we will be welcomed like royalty. Yesterday as we pulled into the neighborhood where the church and student center was, there were some teen boys smiling, waving and running after our bus - welcoming us. Then as we pulled up to the church there was a big banner that said "Welcome Sponsors" and kids and staff started gathering outside...waving balloons and they had noise makers and confetti. It was so surreal and I couldn't help but cry. I was under the impression we were going to church and there wouldn't be many kids yesterday, so I don't think I had prepared emotionally. But there were about 200 kids ready to greet us! Compassion evaluates the student centers and the ones who "score" the best, get the honor of hosting the sponsors and advocates when they visit.Every single person who works at that particular student center thanked us for coming.

It was such a blessing to meet Emanuel's mother. I told you last night that she works for the center with the teens. They are so vulnerable at this age and I am so thankful we can not only sponsor her son, we can support her and the impact she is having on so many children. I do not know if she volunteers or if she is paid. Many of the student center workers do volunteer. The church was such a bright spot in the neighborhood - literally. It was painted beautifully and was well kept. They live close to the church, and the father ran home to get the photo album to show me. They gave me 3 photos to bring home - it was so sweet. As we surrounded the staff to pray for them, Elisa (Emanuel's mom) held my hand and she must have given me a dozen hugs. They have an 18 yr. old son, Pablo who was leading worship. I was drawn to him before I knew anything about this family. His face just shone as he sang and worshiped. He was fun to watch. They also have a 10 yr. old daughter named Alexa (tell Kayleigh) and a 3 yr. old daughter named Kristy.

Perspective
We just bought a new house last week. It's a nice house but a bit run down (and filthy dirty). It was a foreclosure. I spent time ripping out cabinets, a fireplace mantle, etc. The stove and microwave are old and gross, and we wanted black appliances, not white. I had ordered new ones at Lowes and had all sorts of stuff ready to order to fix up the kitchen.
Then I read Jill's post.
Why should I spend $3K on kitchen cosmetic changes if we can use the money to help a family in Peru? I cancelled most of the stuff from Lowes and cut the project budget in half. That's my response so far, and Jill isnt even home yet!

It's weird not getting to talk to her, just one email per day.
Here are some pictures from out hike yesterday:




Dead Salmon:


This is what I should get Jill for her birthday (I guess Im the one who would need to wear it though):



Here is your graph of the day:

Tip of the day: All you need are white socks. Black or brown socks look awful on a man who is wearing shorts. Take the best looking guy in the world and put him in shorts with black socks and he will look like an idiot. White socks look fine. I go to the gym after work and change into shorts as soon as I get home if Im not going to the gym. Why should I change socks too? So I just wear white socks all the time. I think we should outlaw dark socks. And white matches everything (why wouldn't a tux look good with white socks, they match!). So tip of the day for men: only wear white socks and get rid of all others.

Now for a picture that Jill would never put on the blog but I will: