Heart Prints

 This is our precious girl Meseret.  She is one of more then 200 kids served by the Trees of Glory care point in Ethiopia.  We got the sweetest surprise in the mail yesterday.  I opened the envelope and to my delight was her smiling face.

A couple of weeks ago, we received a letter from her.  We've received lots of letters from her over the past several years, but this one was special.  I wrote about how much she has changed from our first visit to our last here.  She's gone from super shy and reserved to glowing with joy and really opened up the last time we saw her.

I don't know if it is because Caleb was with us and she now saw that I was a mom, or if it is just a polite term of endearment, but for the first time in almost three years, she addressed me as "mom" in her letter.  "Mom, how are you doing?"  When I read that, my heart just leaped.  She lives with her grandmother, and I'm not sure where her mom is, if she is still living or not.....but to think that I can play a part in her life as her "mom from afar" is an honor.

We are always encouraged to hear from her. A few letters ago, praise Jesus, she told us that she had decided to follow him!  This time, she asked us, "how many hours do you pray in a day."  That jut got me....hours???  Well, I do find myself in conversation with God throughout the day, but Meseret, you have surely inspired us to pray more often.

 And then, I flipped her picture over to find her precious hand print.  I don't know what it is about hand prints, but I've always thought them to be precious as they capture those sweet little hands of our kids and lock them in time.  I also love thinking of her hand touching the very paper that I'm holding.

The funny thing about this hand print is that we were there when the kids were making these.  This was the project that Caleb helped out with while we were at Trees of Glory in November.  I was helping with care packages, so I didn't see these being made, but I knew they were making them.  Four months later and I totally forgot about them.  Tears filled my eyes when I saw this sweet card from her.

So, if you've ever thought about sponsoring a child or wondered how you could make a difference or if sponsorship was even a worthwhile thing to do, let me encourage you to take that step.  It's life changing for them, but also for you.  The transformation we've seen in Meseret is just remarkable and she continues to transform our hearts.

There are a few more kids at TOG that need sponsor families.  If you think that family might be you, head over to Karen Wistrom's blog (TOG sponsorship coordinator) to see pictures of those still waiting and to  learn more about TOG.