Patricia

Earlier in the year, I felt a tremendous weight to sponsor a child through Compassion International. In June, I responded with obedience and decided to select a girl who was about the same age as Hannah. When I saw Patricia's face, I knew she would be my sponsor child. I kept returning to her profile and her sad eyes. She is three months older than Hannah. My hope is that we will be her sponsor family for years to come and that Hannah can eventually communicate with her through letters.

Now all this sounds very grand, but I regret to say that I had not written any letters to her. I have received 3 letters from her, but that was not even enough to spur me on. I even missed the deadline to send her a Christmas package. I have been so busy that I forgot my little girl in Uganda. Tonight I sat down to create a login (hadn't even done that) and I wrote her a brief letter online. Not much, but just enough to tell her a little about our family and that we love and pray for her. The dominant language in Uganda is English, but Patricia lives in a village that speaks a local dialect so it will need to be translated and then read to her. I hope she receives it by Christmas.

After I sent her the letter, I considered how distracted I have been with Christmas preparations. Creating a budget, buying gifts, wrapping them in lovely papers. Meanwhile, my little African girl is an orphan who lives with a "grandmother" and four "siblings" who appear to be cousins or perhaps just other orphans. Her caregiver earns about $5 per month as a laborer. Wow. So as I wiped away my tears, I thanked God for Patricia and her reminder to me that wealth has nothing at all to do with material goods and paychecks. It does, however, have everything to do with your heart.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do
not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will
be also." Matthew 6:19-21