My Vicarious Trip to Ecuador

Chris and I are very different. We often marvel at how our marriage works when we are so completely opposite. There is one big thing we have in common, though. We both love to travel. And, I might add, for being so different, we travel quite well together. I so look forward to the day when life slows down and we can see the world together. (Read: retirement.) First stop: northern Italy.

Until then, however, I will live vicariously through Chris. He gets to travel for his job. Mostly domestically (and really, who can complain about San Francisco?) but occasionally internationally, as well.

This week he is in Ecuador. I'm very excited for him. Of all the trips to Compassion countries I've been on, (okay ... that's only four, but still) Ecuador was definitely my favorite!

He'll be posting on Compassion's blog about the trip. I'm looking forward to reading along, particularly on the days when they visit the jungle. From what I understand, it's very remote. They have to travel for over an hour in a canoe to get there!

The group is made up of eight women and three men, so I imagine that should any of the jungle fauna decide to make an appearance during their adventure, there will be inordinate amounts of high-pitched squealing. I am confident that my super manly, incredibly strong, extremely courageous, east coast bred and raised husband will not be among them.

After all, he is sporting a mean mustache.

This Is It

So, after ten years at Compassion, this is it.

I always wondered what it would take for me to leave. See, in the beginning I hadn't planned on staying for more than two years. I thought I'd get my feet wet in the working world, get a couple years of work experience under my belt, and then move on to wherever it was that I would find my career. Compassion was just a stepping stone. Or so I thought ...

But God has this crazy way of directing our footsteps so that while the view forward is confusing and quite literally a blind walk of faith, the view looking backward makes perfect sense. As if everything has been planned out ahead of time.

It's true in my life. See if you can follow this. Following a seemingly random (but completely God-directed) series of events, I started off working as an assistant on Compassion's marketing team. After four years in the marketing department, I moved to the communications team and worked in PR and corporate communications. From there, I moved onto the advocacy team, doing a lot of creative and online communications. Then Compassion reorganized and I found myself working on the web team. (Along with a hot single guy named Chris.) At the exact time Chris and I started to contemplate a relationship (which was impossible as he was about to become my supervisor) I was recruited for a job on the field communications team. Seeing as I really wanted to date Chris, I promptly took the job. I did that for a couple years and again last fall Compassion reorganized and I was moved onto the CIV team where I reside today.

All that to say it's been one wild ride. God kept me here for more than three times as long as I originally thought and, good thing because I ended up meeting my husband. Coincidence? The position I took that allowed me to actually date him was the perfect combination of all my past positions and a great fit for me. All along I thought those job moves were random when in reality, they were moving me towards my husband and dream job.

Ten years. That means I've worked there for almost one third of my life! It's been a joy, Compassion. You've been so good to me. I will miss you.

I Thought I Had Seen Poverty ...

Chris' time in Kenya is almost done. He'll be home in three days. To be honest, I've never looked forward to something so much in my life. Thursday couldn't come soon enough. Having him gone has been extremely difficult this time around.

I have no idea why. Perhaps my fragile emotional state has something to do with being pregnant.

But when I saw the pictures and read the stories of where they went today, I knew that God had put him on this trip for a purpose. I've traveled with Compassion before and seen poverty, but I've never in my life seen anything like what he saw today.

I'm not sure how I would have reacted to what they experienced today if I had been there. (Especially considering how easily I cry these days.) But I'm so thankful that he was there. Because seeing those photos is heartbreaking. But seeing my husband in that place brings it so much closer to home.

The Mathare Valley should not be real. But it is. Chris was there.

Chris and Lerionga

This photo makes all the time apart worth it.Photo by Ryan Detzel

Meet Elember

A hurricane hit El Salvador this past weekend. I know this because I have to report on it for my job. Whenever there's a crisis, my task list gets reordered around that crisis. So as I was going about my newly rearranged El Salvador-focused Monday morning To Do list, I opened Compassion's home page.

And I fell in love.

This is Elember.
He's four.
He has the cutest bowl haircut I think I've ever seen.
And now half his country's under water.

Will you sponsor him? Or if you can't, will you forward this to someone who will?

I'm telling you, it would make Elember's day.

9

Nine years ago today was my first day at Compassion. Seriously? It feels like just last week I wrote this.

It's been one wild ride!

MTV and Compassion

I know I already posted today, but gotta share this ...

Check out the conversation happening on Compassion's Facebook page!

Quite exciting, if you ask me. This kind of thing really fires people up! It's awesome to see so many people go from being lukewarm to fiery hot. Besides, as Paul says, "But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice."

So let's rejoice!

(Oh, and then go donate $10 to Compassion. It could help us win $50,000!)

One

Want to know more?

A Few Things

So I have several things to share so this is going to be one of those random stream of consciousness posts. Mkay?

1. This morning I had a very weird experience. I was sitting on the couch enjoying my coffee when I heard something crash into the sliding glass door. A few seconds later I heard it happen again. And again. This deranged bird - I think it was a robin - would perch on the fence near my house, fly straight at the door, crash into it, fall down and then do it again. And again. And again. It went on for an hour until I had to leave for work. It's probably still doing it.

2. Today is Administrative Professional's Day and I'd like to give a shout out to my good friend and co-worker, Ms. Katy Balsis! She's the sunshine in my day.

3. This little project that I started back when I was on the Advocacy team at Compassion has finally gone live! I put a LOT of time and energy into it and so even though I'm no longer officially a part of the team, I'm still so stinkin' proud. So it's with utmost excitement that I present to you ... Compassion's new kid's web site! You should go check it out RIGHT NOW. (And try the fish game ... it's HARD.)

4. And finally, here's Annie Lennox on reality TV competitions ... I've always liked her musc. Now I like her even more.


That's all for now. Happy Hump Day, everyone!

My Broken Heart

I wrote a post on Compassion's blog today about Slumdog Millionaire. I meant everything I wrote in it, but to be honest, I wrote it from an emotionally detached place.

I'd encourage you to go read it before you read the rest of the this post ...

Did you read it?

What do you think about the question at the end? See, I'm really wrestling with this idea of poverty tourism. Where exactly is the line between educating ourselves about poverty and exploiting the poor?

A warning about the following video: It will break your heart. It will take guts to watch it. I truthfully have never seen a video that broke my heart so completely as this one.

I'm not posting it to be emotionally manipulative. I don't want to evoke your pity or guilt. What I want to do is help you understand what poverty looks like.



You will not see videos or photographs like this from Compassion. I didn't post this as an employee of Compassion. I posted it because it helped me to emotionally connect with the work I do every day.

If during this video your heart was broken for the poor, please don't ignore that.

Do something about it.

How can anyone say no to this?

I had a blog post all planned for today, but that's going to have to wait. There is something much more important that I must talk about.

I know I have talked about Compassion a lot lately but this time I can't help it.

And seriously? How can anyone say no to this ...

Thiago is five years old. He lives with his mom.

He needs a sponsor.

His dad isn't around, so what a huge impact a sponsor could have on this little guy! If you've been hesitant to sponsor a child up to this point, the time is now.

Please sponsor Thiago. If you can't, will you help me find someone who can? Send them this post.

Normally I try not to push Compassion on this blog since people might assume that I talk about them simply because I receive a paycheck from them.

But believe me when I tell you in this case, it's not the paycheck. Look at that photo. I just want to squeeze him.

I'm on a mission to find Thiago a sponsor.

Sponsor Thiago now.

Kingdom Coming

Shaun Groves is a passionate advocate for Compassion. He wrote the song Kingdom Coming as a result of his experiences with the poor. You can download it below. For free. No strings attached.

You should. It's a very good song.

8

Today is my 8th anniversary at Compassion.

Eight years. It's hard to believe I've worked here for almost a third of my life. It's getting the point where it's hard to remember life before Compassion, actually.

A little background for you ...

I spent the last semester of college living in downtown Chicago. I was an intern in the event planning department at the National PTA. As the weeks wound down towards graduation, I thought more and more about what was next. I considered many options, but moving back to Colorado Springs was not one of them. I had this idea in my head that moving back to the city I grew up in was somehow a cop-out. So I applied for jobs all over the country - FL, CA, WA, IL, MI - basically everywhere but Colorado.

I didn't get a single job offer. Not one. Finding a job long distance is very difficult. Finding a job in event planning with very limited experience, is virtually impossible. As the rejection letters continued to come, I resigned myself to the fact that I had to add "Moving back in with Mom and Dad" to the list of options.

So I graduated and moved back to Colorado. I spent the next six months applying for all sorts of event-type jobs here. I applied at many different non-profits and ministries. I went to dozens of interviews. All of them told me the same thing - something I'm sure every college graduate dreads - they really wanted someone with more experience.

In November, I began working at a local coffee shop. Four days into that job, I got a call from Compassion. (Unbeknownst to me, they had kept my resume from an earlier job that I applied for and hadn't gotten.) They asked me to come interview for an assistant job. Desperate for anything that paid more than minimum wage, I was ecstatic. I interviewed with HR, and then a few days later with the managers I'd be assisting. Finally, I got a call.

It was only when I accepted the job offer and asked more about the job that I found out that I'd be assisting the event managers in the marketing department.

So you see, that is how I know God called me here. That is why I've stayed here for eight years. As it turns out, event planning is not for me. But Compassion is and, of course, God knew that. In those eight years I've changed positions. I've changed departments. I've changed teams. I've changed desks. Through it all I've fallen in love with this place and what God is doing here. I'm in a position now that fits my gifts and calling so perfectly that it could only be God.

I don't know what He has planned for me in the future. I'd like to live somewhere else, eventually. Maybe even another country. What I do know, though, is that for today, this is where He's called me.

I love this ministry. I love my job. And I feel so blessed.

Hope and Change

I've heard the words "hope" and "change" used more times in the last few months than any other time in my life. There are a lot of people in this country counting on our new president to follow through on his promises for a better future. I will certainly be praying that he leads us with integrity and wisdom.

But do you want to see what real hope and change look like?

Read this post.

It is one of the most moving things I've read in a long time.

Oh, and speaking of hope, do you have your own story of hope? Share it and win some sweet books. Check it out.

Ethiopia

Did you know there is a food crisis going on?

If you didn't, it's okay. We're pretty insulated from suffering here. I was happily ignorant of it until a month ago when I started my new job. Now it's my responsibility to understand what's going on.

And it's breaking my heart.

If you are brave enough, let it break yours too.

Here is what the crisis looks like in Ethiopia.

Please.
Do something.

Tuesday's Update

So. It's been a few days. But I have some news for you ...

1. This is Hawaii week! (Ok, that's not news. I've already blabbed about it enough.) I've been checking the weather online daily, and although it's supposed to rain a lot while we're there, they keep adding more and more sunny days. WOOHOO! Still, I bought a new rain jacket (sort of a foreign concept in Colorado.)

2. I have a new job! It was rather sudden to me and I'm still transitioning mentally and emotionally. But it was too great an opportunity to pass up. I'm still working at Compassion, but now I'll be working on the field communications team doing crisis communications. It wasn't something I'd planned, but it seems God had other ideas. And I'm learning that when I listen to Him, things tend to work out.

3. A week from today I turn 30. That's a big one. I know this will be a special birthday because I already received the best gift I've ever gotten. In my life. My friend Karen (with the help of my brother) coordinated getting all my friends, family and coworkers to write letters to me telling me what I mean to them. Then she put them in this really cool album with some photos. Seriously, guys, you have NO IDEA what this means to this "words of affirmation" girl. It's like a grown-up yearbook, only 1,000,000 times better. I used to read the messages people wrote in my yearbook over and over again. You can bet I'll be reading those letters over and over again! To everyone who contributed, I can't really explain to you what it means to me. Thank you for already making this the best birthday ever. I love you!

He Knows Your Name

Want to see what Compassion looks like lived out?

This is one of our artists from Compassion Netherlands meeting his sponsored boy.

Get your kleenex ready ...



Sponsor a child.

Proof

I have a new post on the Compassion Blog.
It's about me and the little guy I sponsor, Youvens.

The Compassion Blog

So. Have you heard that Compassion recently launched a blog? It's just getting going, but I think it's going to be a really cool thing! Posts will be written by a variety of people ... our leadership, headquarters staff, field staff, and maybe even some formerly sponsored students!

So check it. Here's my first official post.

And bookmark it, because there's going to be some sweet stuff on here!

Take a Poverty Quiz

A few of you have asked what I do at Compassion. Things are always changing here, so that's hard to answer, but for the past couple years I've been working on the Advocacy team. Our job is to educate people in the U.S. about children in poverty.

I wrote this quiz. Take it and let me know how you do!
Then post it on your blog!

Get this widget!