Share & Tell: August

I'm joining up with Yvonne, who blogs at Our Little Corner of the World, for another Share & Tell post!

I have been continuing with my two online letters per month. This month, I wrote about Gladys Alward and Mah Kha Diew.

I also wrote to our kids about barrier reefs. In a previous letter I shared how Eric and I spent one day in Belize and I mentioned in the letter that Belize is known for having a barrier reef. Every child who has mentioned the letter stated that he or she has never heard of a barrier reef. So I took some time to write a letter sharing about barrier reefs! I also shared a brief description of coral, locations of three barrier reefs (in the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea and Australia's Great Barrier Reef).

I additionally included the text of "Amazing Grace." I had written a letter about John Newton and shared his testimony, but didn't have room to include the lyrics of the song. I thought that the kids would be encouraged by the song.

This letter is a little advanced for our youngest kids, but I sent it anyways for two reasons. First, when I read to Juanito, we read books that are advanced about animals and he enjoys them, although he doesn't understand it all! And second, I always figure that there is a family behind the child and maybe another family member will really enjoy the letter.

I hope that you can use these ideas to inspire your relationship-builidng with your sponsored children! I love learning from others and getting ideas. And if you would like to share your ideas for writing to your kids, join the link up at Yvonne's blog!

Correspondence Connections: September

This summer I found some really neat sticker books from Dover on sale for 60 cents each! I got glittery flower stickers for the girls and glittery bird stickers for the boys.

I also cut up some old calendars with nature scenes to send to the kids! I thought that they'd enjoy the photos of the birds, flowers, etc. The photos are of local nature scenes and were taken by college students in our area.

Then for the little kids, I printed the story of The Good Samaritan from Bible for Children.

And for the older kids, I created word searches with this Word Search Generator (thanks, Donna!). I made each kid's word search a little different and included his or her name, country and some of their favorite things!

Finally, I included a school-themed letter where I asked each kid who their favorite teacher is and what their favorite class is. I also shared some of my story and how I chose to major in math!

What fun things have you found to send to your kids?

And if you don't currently sponsor a kid, will you pray about sponsoring one and beginning a relationship with a precious child? You can see waiting kids here.

Correspondence Connections: August

Since I don't have any new Compassion letters to share this week, I thought I'd instead share what I wrote about in August!

I usually handwrite letters every-other month, but we have one or two children who will be graduating and/or leaving Compassion soon, so I want to take advantage of the time I have! So I've been handwriting responses to each of my kids and I wrote a more general letter to send to each child. The "general" letter is themed "Your Name" and I asked each child how they received their name! I also asked if they know what their names mean. Then I shared how Eric and I chose our son Juanito's name!

Then I collected stickers and printed Bible stories for both the boys and girls; I printed out paper dolls for the girls; and I printed out paper airplane templates for the boys! The stickers varied depending on the age of the child...I sent flowers to the oldest girls, super heroes to the oldest boys, princess stickers to the little girls and car stickers to the little boys. You can get an idea of what I sent to each child from these photos:

Then I sent two letters online. The first was about our trip to Texas in July where we visited Eric's family. We were able to visit the San Antonio Zoo and so I made sure to include photos of the zoo on the template (and I printed out photos of Eric's family with us to include in the handwritten letters). For these letters, I used the same templates for the boys and the girls...I thought the monkey was cute for a zoo-themed letter!

My final letter was a continuation of my letters about visits to other countries. I included some photos of my day visit to Canada and the Niagra Falls with my dear friend, Sarah! This letter also provided an opportunity to share about my friendship with Sarah--two of our kids had just asked me to tell them about my friends!

Have you written to your kids this month? What did you write about?

Correspondence Connections: July

Thanks to the Michelle of Blogging from the Boonies, I'm continuing with my Correspondence Connections posts!

Normally I don't mail letters every month (since it gets kind of expensive!) but I found out that gift bags can be sent to our kids! I was so excited at the thought of sending gift bags that I whipped up a quick package for our kids. The gift bags, once folded, fit into the 8.5" x 11" and 1/4" thick guidelines, after removing the handles.

Along with the gift bags, I included a drawing that I did about 4 years ago:

And I created a template sharing information about my family members and Eric's family members. And then I included all the information that I had about each child's family members (I included 2 copies of their info)! I asked the kids to fill in the missing info and to return one page with info about their family. We'll see if we hear back from any of our kids! It would be fun to learn more about each of them, though.

Finally, I created a map on Google Maps showing where we live and where each child lives! For example, you can see Eric & I in Florida and Gizelle in Brazil. (I had to Screenshot the Google Map and then import it into Pages, where I overlaid the photos.) I enjoyed seeing where we live in comparison to each child!

Additionally, I wrote two online letters this month. There first was about my trip to the Dominican Republic in 2009 with my brother and sister. I shared about our time working with kids in the Bateys and my visit to encourage kids in the hospital. I also shared how we helped with a youth retreat and that I learned about Hillsong! My favorite Hillsong songs on the trip were "Desde Mi Interior" ("From the Inside Out") and "Mi Dios Puede Salvar" ("Mighty to Save").

My final letter was about our church. Jenny had asked if she could know more about our church and I thought that all the kids might enjoy hearing about our church! I made sure to include photos too!

Hopefully this post can give you ideas about what to write about and/or what to include with your letters! What did you write about in July?

Correspondence Connections: June

Thanks to the Michelle of Blogging from the Boonies, I'm continuing with my Correspondence Connections posts!

Last week I mailed a whole batch of letters with goodies. In an effort to learn more about each of our kids, I wrote a "Favorites" themed letter where I listed my favorite things, Eric's favorite things, and I also included a list for each of our kids to return with their favorite things. I'm not sure if any of our kids will return it to us, but I thought it was worth a try!

I also folded an army of origami turtles and fish:

The fish are for the girls:

And the turtles are for the boys:

I also included a copy of The Father's Love Letter for each child age 13 and up and a copy of the story of Noah's Ark for all our kids up through age 12. The neat thing about these two resources are that they are available in many languages!

In addition to the "snail mail" letters, I sent a series of three letters about my trip to Argentina in 2008. I lived in Argentina for the summer and shared different aspects of the trip with our kids: working at an orphanage, visiting the Iguazu falls and going to a zoo where you could go in with all the animals (including the tigers and lions!).

Here are the girls' letters:

And the letters to the boys:

I wanted to show you the online letters because the templates available are so neat! And I hope that these ideas help inspire your letter writing! And I look forward to hearing about any ideas that you have.

Correspondence Connections: May

My "Correspondence Connections" post was inspired by Michelle from Blogging from the Boonies--I highly recommend that you check out her blog! She has lots of great ideas for letter topics and fun things to include in your letters.

In April, I started a letter series on my travels to other countries. Last month I wrote about my trip to Cuba (you can read about that letter here). This month, I wrote about my trip to Bolivia.

I shared that my brother and I went to Bolivia when I was 16. We helped to host a youth conference for a church in La Paz. Then we traveled to Caranavi and worked with an orphanage there! I also shared a song that I learned while there: "Jesus, Amado de Mi Alma" or "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" by Darlene Zschech. If you want to hear it in Spanish, click here.

Here's a sample of the copy that I sent to the girls:



And here's a sample of what I sent to the boys:




I also wrote Father's Day themed letters to my kids. I wrote two types of letters--I wrote a general letter to those of our kids who don't have fathers and then to our kids with fathers, I added a special note to their dads.

I shared that on Sunday, June 16, we celebrate Father's Day here and I asked each child if they have a holiday like this in their country. Next, I shared that we give small presents to our fathers, grandfathers or people who have acted as fathers in our lives. And that for part of Eric's Father's Day gift, I'll help Juanito to draw a picture for Eric!

Then I shared how Father's Day reminds me of our perfect Father in heaven and how it is such a wonderful blessing to know that no matter how hard this life is, we always have a loving and caring Father! I shared 1 John 1:3, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" Then I asked our kids if they know a verse from the Bible that talks about God being our Father.

Then, to each of our kids with a dad in their life, I wrote a short note thanking each dad for investing into his children's lives and wishing him a happy Father's Day.

Then I included photos of Eric, Juanito and our friend Lauren, who has been living with us during the school year.

Here is the version that I sent to the girls:


And the version that I sent the boys:


My goal is to send handwritten letters every-other month, so in June I'll be posting about some fun origami turtles and fish that I'm including in the June letters!

What are some topics that you've written about to your kids?

Correspondence Connections: April

My "Correspondence Connections" post was inspired by Michelle from Blogging from the Boonies--I highly recommend that you check out her blog! She has lots of great ideas for letter topics and fun things to include in your letters.

This month I started a letter series on my travels to other countries. From age 15 through my honeymoon, I was blessed to visit many countries--Cuba, Bolivia, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Belize and the Grand Cayman Islands! I thought that I would write a letter sharing about each trip and including a few photos from each trip! I also thought that I would share a little about each of the countries that I went to. Once I'm done sharing about the countries I've visited, I'm thinking about writing to each child about his or her country.

This letter, I shared about my trip to Cuba with my mom when I was 15. We helped to host a worship conference for Christian leaders throughout Cuba. It was a fun trip and very eye-opening. I also shared a song that I learned while there: "Extiende Tu Mano" by Juan Luis Guerra (I translated it into English for the non-Spanish speakers). It's a beautiful song and you can listen to it here!

Here's a sample of the copy that I sent to the girls:


And here's a sample of what I sent to the boys:



I also wrote letters to my 11 to 13-year-olds about my 12th birthday. When I was 12, I received a "Challenge" where my parents gave me various tasks to complete before my 13th birthday. It was a lot of fun and very educational! Some of the tasks were:

- read 9 books of the Bible
- help 3 neighbors
- prepare my testimony
- learn to swim freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke
- go biking with my mom
- go hiking with my dad
- learn how to start a fire
- write a story in Spanish
- write a newspaper article
- learn CPR
- teach my siblings how to clean the house
- learn how to share the gospel

I shared how it was a wonderful experience to learn so many new things and how excited I was to celebrate my 13th birthday because I had been able to accomplish some of these challenges!

I also dug out some photos of me working on my challenge to share with them. This inspiration came from Jill, who blogs at Compassion Family and who shared that she wrote letters to her kids themed "When I Was Your Age" (you can read Jill's post here). I hope to continue this trend with other age-groups, but this was my starter letter!

Here's what I send to the girls:


And here's what I sent to the boys:


I love the letter writing templates on Compassion's website! And hopefully this will give you some inspiration in your letter writing!

Correspondence Connections: St. Patrick's Day & Mother's Day

We did not hear from our Compassion kids this week, so instead of a Mail Call Monday, I thought I'd share with you the two most recent letter writing topics!

For my March online letter, I shared about how we celebrate St. Patrick's Day! My grandfather is Irish and so this was always a fun holiday growing up. I shared with our kids how we wear green and eat a special meal. And then I shared with the kids my shortened version of St. Patrick's testimony (you can read the translated official version here).

And then I shared a verse that inspired St. Patrick's ministry: Matthew 28: 18-20, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen" (NKJV).

After writing the letter, I found a picture of the Irish flag, a map of Europe (I cropped out most of Europe, I just wanted them to see where Ireland was, in context) and a coloring page with a rainbow that says "Happy St. Patrick's Day". I thought that this would be a fun letter! You can see what it looks like below.


And then with my current paper mailing (I try to send paper letters every-other month), I included a letter about Mother's Day. I shared about our custom of taking time to thank our moms, and grandmothers and aunts and female guardians (I made it a point to include all female figures in the lives of our kids--some are cared for by grandmothers and aunts). I shared that sometimes we make a special meal for the mom-figures in our lives and sometimes we give cards and small gifts.

I also wrote a short note of gratitude for each mom-figure in our kids' lives in the letter. And I included gifts for the moms (and aunts and grandmas!) along with the stickers for each kid and his or her siblings. For most of my kids I included a recipe card for each female guardian. But for four of our kids' moms, I included a cute notebook! I found these notebooks when I was unpacking from our move in September. They're soft-cover and flexible and slightly less than 1/4 inch thick!


I sent the notebooks to the moms of Franco,



Mary,



Valeria,



and Earl John.



I chose these moms for various reasons. Franco's father just passed away and I wanted to encourage his mom in a special way! Mary's mom writes for her and so I feel like I know Juana, Mary's mom, better than Mary herself! I was given the opportunity to speak with Valeria's mom, Luz, on the phone while my friend Kristen was in Colombia (you can read about that visit here). And Earl John's mom, Juvy, has been writing the sweetest notes in Earl John's letters. Juvy is actually the one who inspired me to write a Mother's Day themed letter--she shared how much she appreciated my Mother's Day note to her last year! She said she was so encouraged by hearing from me.

Finally, I wanted to share a photo of our wall! This is one of our living room walls--I love having our kids in my sightline all day as it reminds me to be praying for them throughout the day. And Juanito loves looking at all the photos...if we ask him where his "Hermanos de Compasion" (Compassion siblings), he points to the photos! And we go over all their names every day. He really enjoys going over each kids name! He can even point to most of the kids by name.


Have you written to your kids recently? And do you have your kids photos hanging in your house?

My "Correspondence Connections" post was inspired by Michelle from Blogging from the Boonies--I highly recommend that you check out her blog! She has lots of great ideas for letter topics and fun things to include in your letters.

Correspondence Connections: January & February

I'm borrowing Michelle's idea for a Correspondence Connections post! Michelle blogs at Blogging from the Boonies, which I highly recommend reading. I thought I'd share what I wrote to my kids in January and February.

For January, I wrote a follow-up post to my letter about Massachusetts (you can read about that here) and so I shared about Florida. I explained to the kids in my previous letter that I grew up in Massachusetts but then moved to Florida, so I thought I'd share about the beauty of the Gulf Coast (and I was able to find 3 great photos!). I asked each child if they lived near a body of water, like an ocean or lake. I know that I could look these up (and probably will!) but for the purpose of building a relationship, I wanted to ask each kid. Here is a copy of the boy version.

I also shared Lamentations 3:22-26 with them as it had really been encouraging me that week and I thought it might encourage them also: "Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord," (NKJV). And a copy of the girl version.

Then for my February letter, I thought I'd write a "Happy Easter" letter since it can take up to 3 months for the kids to receive the letters. (I think this is the first time that I'm actually on time with a letter!) I shared that we celebrate the Passover during the week before Easter and that they can read about the first Passover in Exodus 12 and about Jesus' celebration of the Passover in Luke 22. I also shared that on Easter Sunday, we have a custom of saying, "He is risen!" when we see people and they answer back with, "He is risen indeed." Here's the front of the letter.

And I asked our kids if they have any customs or traditions for celebrating Easter. I then shared the lyrics of the Third Day song, "Children of God", and was able to share with the kids that if we accept Jesus as our Savior, then we can also be called children of God! And I ended the letter by asking each child if he or she had accepted Jesus as his or her Savior. I also found two neat Easter-themed coloring pages which I included instead of photos on the template. And here is the back of the letter.

And, as always, feel free to take any of these ideas and please share any ideas that you have!

Correspondence Connections: A Pinning & a Dedication

I am linking up with Blogging from the Boonies for Correspondence Connections. My hope is that by sharing what I wrote about this month, it will give you ideas in your correspondence with your kids.

We had to big events in our lives in December, so I wanted to share both with our kids. The first was my husband, Eric's, pinning! Eric finished nursing school and was part of a pinning ceremony. And the second big event was Juanito's dedication. Both of our families attended the pinning and some good friends of ours came also! Our kids frequently ask about our friends, so I took the opportunity to share some photos of our friends also.

The first letter I wrote about the pinning. I shared how it was by God's grace that Eric succeeded in school and I encouraged the kids to persevere in their studies and to pray for God's strength. I was able to share Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," (NKJV) with the kids. I shared a photo of Eric, Juanito and I with my family and also of Eric and I with our friends, David, Sarah and their baby Jadon. Below you can see a sample boy letter and a sample girl letter.

Then I wrote a letter sharing about Juanito's dedication. I was able to share that the dedication was a time for Eric and I to publicly acknowledge that Juanito is a gift from God to us and to pledge to train Juanito in the knowledge of God. I was able to share Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," (NKJV) and took the opportunity to encourage our kids to follow God's law. Eric's brother's family was able to be there with us, so I was able to include a photo of us with his family! I also included a photo of us with our friend, Evan and Orlando. Below are samples of a boy letter and a girl letter.

Have you had an exciting events in your life recently? If so, please consider writing to your sponsored child about the event! Or if you don't have an exciting event to write about, consider sharing about your friends. With the online templates, it's so easy to include photos...so maybe you could share a photo of you doing an activity with a friend!

Correspondence Connections

Michelle, from Blogging from the Boonies, started a "Correspondence Connections" post. Although I am a few days later than her, I liked the idea and so decided to write this post!

My hope is to give you encouragement and inspiration in your letter writing. I would like to encourage you to write to your child! Here's what I generally do for letter writing...I don't share it to guilt you, but hopefully you'll get ideas from what I've found helpful!

I try to write to each child once a month using Compassion's online options. Compassion provides beautiful templates and allows you to attach photos! But I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to correspondence, and so I aim to send a hand-written letter every other month.

For the hand-written letter, I take time to read through any recent letters that I have from each kid, and then I right a personalized letter for that child only. In these letters I'll answer questions, ask specific questions, and send messages to family members. These letters take longer to write and I've found that I usually need two months to finish up a batch! I love including stickers and other paper stuff with these letters.

The online option has this great "duplicate letter" option, and so usually I write a general letter and send a copy to each kid...I just change the name and any other pertinent information.

The topic for this month's online letter was inspired by a question from Nelci.

Nelci asked if we have mountains where we live. Since we're in Florida, we don't...but I am originally from Massachusetts, where we have hills! So in this letter I wrote that I am from Massachusetts, Eric is from Texas, but with live in mountain-less Florida. I continued by sharing that in Massachusetts there are mountains and that they are beautiful in the fall when the leaves changed colors! I asked the kids two questions: "Do you have states or provinces in your country" and "Do you have mountains?" (I try not to ask too many questions...I figure if I ask only one or two, chances are, they're more likely to be answered. Also, although these are things I could look up, I like to ask the kids in an effort to build a relationship with them.) I ended the letter by sharing Psalm 121 with the kids (or Psalm 121:1-2 with the litter kids!) since every time I see mountains I am reminded of this Psalm. Finally I found photos of Massachusetts in the fall and included them in the letters.

Here are some pictures of the letters...this one was for all the girls.

This one was for the older boys.

And this one was for the younger boys.

I hope that this inspires you to write to your kids! Feel free to "steal" any of my ideas!