"A CHRISTMAS BLESSING"

Part 1 of a weekly update on this Christmas project. Check back periodically for updated content, videos, testimonials, and other information that will encourage you as you follow and participate in this adventure with us!

Many of you will be receiving, if you haven't already received, a packet of information from us regarding "A Christmas Blessing" project we've begun. In it, you'll find a brief explanation on what we're doing and then the specific ways that you can be a blessing to someone in another country; another place this Christmas. If you have not received any mailings from us and are unsure if we have your address, please email us at: chrisandlindyt@gmail.com and we'll mail one out to you immediately.

Each week, we will give you a bit more depth into the areas listed in the mailing you received. This, combined with periodic videos and testimonials, will help create a connection between you and those individuals who may receive a "seed" that you plant by way of your gift. You, like Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:6, will be planting something that we will help water. Yet God is the one who will grow it and multiply it!

Watch this quick video that will introduce this project, then check back on this website where we'll post more information to help you better connect. Now, let me invite you to join us this Christmas in our "A Christmas Blessing" project!

Sweet Baby Judith...

Ezra meets Judith

Remember the last post when I mentioned baby Judith? Of course you do. Last Friday I actually got to go to the baby home and meet her. I honestly thought I would find this place, walk in, hand them the frozen milk and leave. I figured a simple "thanks for the milk" would be it. Surely they are really busy people. I couldn't have been more happy to be wrong. I walked in with Ezra in tow and stated "My name is Lindy and I spoke with someone about bringing milk for baby Judith." A white (i think German) woman comes whizzing around the courner to greet me! I have never had a first incountered with someone so happy to meet me. I set the milk on the table as she grabs my hand and runs into a nearby room. She picks up this tiny little baby and bends down to Ezra saying "This is your baby sister. Look at her- she is YOUR sister! You shared with her and now she will get big like you!" This went on and on and finally I grabbed my camera towards the end thinking "This is just too precious not to video".

(This is the end of the conversation- I was too late getting the camera out)

THEN she hands me tiny baby Judith, who is certainly one of THE MOST PRECIOUS things I have EVER held! The woman runs off and leaves me standing there squishing this precious little girl. When she comes back she grabs Ezra and carries him to the next room over as I followed wondering where we were going. When we get there, she sets Ez down and hands me a bottle of warm milk and says "Here, feed your little girl YOUR milk." You can imagine how emotional I am getting at this point still having rather fresh wounds from 2 failed adoptions. But how cool was it that Ezra was able to participate in this as well. What an incredible moment for both he and I. Ezra was AMAZING the whole time. Like he knew she and I were having a moment together. She gobbled the milk down. I was so, so proud of her.

Of course I'm left wishing there were SOME WAY that she could be part of our family. Unfortunatly, it's impossible due to corruption and strict laws because people have chosen to traffic children. Who suffers? Judith, of course.

Ezra is 1 month older than Judith.

For now, I will settle with a thankful heart that she was able to have her preference of mothers milk instead of formula for a short while. There was no legalities or paperwork involved. Just the bond of Christ and the trust between us that fed little Judith untainted milk.

Praise Him, Praise Him...

I was thinking today "What can I update the blog about?" All I could think about is how THANKFUL we are. Since that's at the forefront of my mind- then THAT is what you get!

I would love to take a moment to share some of these things- from big things to very simple things.

• We are SO thankful to finally have our Pajero back! I mentioned many posts ago that our engine completely blew on the way for a weekend camping trip. After a month and a half of cab rides and bumming rides off friends- we have A NEW ENGINE! Praise Him for great friends and for providing us with enough money to pay for the new engine.

• God is SO amazing and SO faithful. He has created a woman's body to provide food for her child after he/she is born. I have had the IMMENSE privilege of being able to feed not only my own child but an abandoned baby as well. A VERY underweight little girl has been in a local Nairobi children's hospital after being found by police. When fed breast milk rather than formula- she eats a lot more and seems much more satisfied. The woman providing her with milk for over a month left this past Sunday and I have been able to step in and store up loads of milk in my freezer for her. I can't help but wish she was my very own little girl. I haven't met her yet- but I am REALLY looking forward to it. Praise Him that he has given me the ability to feed 2 babies!

(Both of these babes are 10weeks old) :(

• Zippy and I have been talking for a while about sending her to cooking school. I have tried to teach her many things myself and she has done a great job of helping me by making simple things for my recipes (ie- cream of mushroom, pizza dough, tortillas). But it takes a lot of extra time to teach someone these things. We have looked in to a school here in karen for her. We have found one and she is SO excited! This will make Zipporah invaluable. She is already SO great at house work. Zipporah is super reliable and trustworthy and she gets work done quickly. I think she has found her tent making ;) I've been loaning her out to several friends who have been in need of a trustworthy house helper. A new friend that just moved here has offered to help us pay for cooking classes for her. The classes should begin some time in February. Praise Him for great help and for tent making for Zippy.

• The Lord has laid on our hearts to get rid of things we don't use or need. (Yes- i realized the term "need" is relative) So we've been purging our things and giving away or selling stuff that we haven't used in a few years! Who knew there were people wanting and needing many of the exact things we were getting rid of! Praise Him for down sizing and providing.

• Praise Him for providing us with friends when family seems so far away.

• Praise Him for free baby sitters for a date night! :)

• Praise Him for our home group (especially when I can't pay attention in church because a certain little sweet boy)

• Praise Him for mosquito nets and the fact that there is little to no malaria where we live (bc Ezra has had a zillion mosquito bites!)

• Praise Him for the beauty in this country. And Praise Him for this amazing home. I am so thankful to be able to sit outside and enjoy God's beauty just in my backyard.

• Praise Him for the return of David Kangethe from the streets. He is working hard to prove that he is back and serious about leaving that life.

• Praise Him for funds that are helping a few partners develop tent making opportunities.

• Praise Him for Thomas and Zipporah who are playing with Ezra right now so I can write this post :)

I really could go on and on and on...

I am overflowing with joy and thankfulness this day!

Bless

The word bless means to bestow favor or give honor unto another. When God "blesses" people or countries, He's imparting His divine favor upon them. This means that He, as our Heavenly Father, gives praise and acceptance of us as His children.

When we do this to another person, we are mimicking a God-type quality and, therefore, acting like Christ. This is a good practice! However, it's not blessing someone when we pay them for a service or respond after they've held the door open for us. That is proper courtesy. Blessing should be unsolicited. It should come out of a generous and grateful heart. It doesn't mean we simply bless others who like us or who are our friends. The Bible states the opposite, "Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse." (Romans 12:14)

Today is Lindy Rollins Thompson's birthday. I came down here early this morning to write a sweet post to bless and honor her. But as I concluded my quiet time, another thought came to mind. "What if I ask you to bless someone else in her honor?" She has been such a blessing to so many others, why not do something, though she's miles away, to others as a gift to her? Would you be willing to try this today?

Here's what I'd like to ask of you:

Today (or tomorrow when you read this), make it your goal to get Lindy a birthday present. The present she would love above all else is you blessing someone who may have a need, be your neighbor with a flat tire, be standing in line to pay for groceries ahead of you, be someone who is sick and needs a visitor, be a single mom who'd love a break to go get coffee, be your family member who could use a kind conversation from you, or anyone else who would have no clue of your intentions.

Then write Lindy on Facebook™, email, or here on the comment section, and tell her of your gift to her and how it blessed someone else. Cool?

I do hope you'll do this! This would bring such a smile to her face. I know my wife; having her friends do something for others in the same way she has done things for them, would be a powerful testimony to her life.

Is there a better way to honor someone special on their birthday?

Happy Birthday Mrs. Thompson. You are loved deeply by so many!