Have you discovered 'A Year With My Camera'?

Today, I did a quick search for a photography challenge and found out that A Year With My Camera was starting a new yearlong workshop today!

This course is a free, yearlong beginner’s photography workshop with weekly homework.

I really don’t consider myself a beginner photographer, but I have been lacking inspiration of what to take pictures of with my DSLR.

The first thing I discovered on the website is this Make 30 Photos list.

I loved that this list did not start with a self-portrait!

After reading the list, I picked up my camera and took a few pictures that matched the first prompt: fill the frame with color.

It felt good to pick up my camera and take some creative shots with things I already have around my home. Maybe this will be the encouragement I need to pick up my camera every day, instead of letting it collect dust.

Have you discovered something new to do this year?

Write to your Compassion Child: Bible Verse Image

Back in January, I shared a Compassion letter writing idea about creating a fun birthday photo collage to add to a letter for your sponsored child. In that post, I wrote about how I know our sponsored children love receiving photos in their letters.

In fact, on the Compassion blog, their latest post mentions that for little Kenenisa, “photos are his favorite thing to receive, and every time he gets one he makes sure to share it with the other children at the center.”

Over the years of writing to our sponsored children, I have sent many photos of our family.

But I also love to take photos on our days trips from some of the beautiful places we have here in California, then I add Bible verses using Canva, and add those photos to the letters I send to our sponsored children.

Here are a few I have sent over the years:

Your photos do not have to be taken with any super special camera. Some of the ones I have used for these Bible verse images are ones I have taken with my iPhone.

In the text of your letter, you can explain why that particular Bible verse is important to you and maybe explain a bit about the photograph. The more Truth we can share with our sponsored children, the more hope they can have and know that they have a loving Father who is watching out for them.

What Bible verses have you shared with your Compassion sponsored children?

Write to your Compassion Child: Sermon Notes

Back at the beginning of March, I wrote out the Bible verses from Matthew 6:25-34. It was reminder for me to not be anxious with all the incoming new’s reports that were coming in about COVID-19. We were getting ready for our son’s wedding, and I really needed a good dose of God’s Word to keep me grounded during that crazy week.

The online sermon I watched before we flew to Illinois for the wedding was from McLean Bible Church and David Platt, the pastor, preached a sermon on those same verses from Matthew 6:25-34. The definition he shared for the word ‘anxiety’ was this: “carrying concerns in this world in such a way that we lose perspective on life and/or lack of trust in God.”

Since March 15, I have watched almost all of the sermons from McLean Bible Church, have learned a lot, and have been encouraged by the sermons they are sharing each week.

This summer, they are doing a series through Philippians 4. The sermon from July 26th addressed the issue of anxiety again.

In this crazy time that we are living through, I know it has been a challenge for me to think about what to write to our Compassion sponsored children. So I thought, sharing some notes from the sermons I have been listening to might be the best thing for them to hear right now.

It is heartbreaking to read the updates from the countries where Compassion works through the local churches. We are living through a time that none of us has ever experienced before.

When I write letters to my Compassion sponsored children, I want to remind them of God’s love for them and encourage them as much as possible. I do not know when our letters will be delivered, but Compassion is encouraging us to continue writing to our sponsored children.

What has been an encouragement for you from the sermons you have listened to over the past few months?

California Day Trips!

Anyone who knows me really well, knows how much I love a good adventure!

Over the past three months, I have spent a lot of time outside, exploring the beautiful state where I live.

Living in the Central Valley of California, I have access to the coast and the mountains, all within a couple of hours drive in each direction.

One of my dream jobs would be to take people on day trips and take candid and portrait photos while we explore some amazing parts of California.

Since this is not really the best time to be starting some sort of travel-related business, I decided to start a new Instagram account highlighting some of my favorite places close to where I live.

One of my most favorite day trip destinations is Yosemite National Park. Even with all the times I have been here, I still have not explored and discovered all that this park has to offer.

As I mentioned in my Instagram post, the current reservation system prevents us from making a spontaneous trip to Yosemite, but now is the time to head up to the mountains and explore this park, especially if you have never been here.

Normally, Yosemite Valley is very crowded during the summer months with thousands of international visitors. As much as I miss chatting with international visitors, I am enjoying the less crowded park.

Have you been to Yosemite? What is your favorite part of the park?

What is your favorite California day trip location?

Write to your Compassion Child: Answer their questions

At the beginning of this year, I had plans of doing a monthly post here on my blog to share some letter writing tips for Compassion sponsors.

I was able to post one in January.

I was able to post one in February.

And then, March came along. Not only was our family preparing last minute details for our son’s wedding, but a worldwide pandemic struck and many things in our world changed in an instant.

I quickly realized and learned that letters to our Compassion sponsored children were not going to be delivered on a regular basis.

Compassion is encouraging us to continue to write to our sponsored children, but I decided to slow down the pace that I write to them.

One of the last letters I received from Lina, she was asking how preparations were going for our son’s wedding.

I sent a letter in April to all of our sponsored children to let them know that our son was able to get married with many last minute adjustments since their wedding was in March.

Over the years, we have received many questions from our Compassion sponsored children. Most often, the letters start out by asking ‘how are you?’ or ‘how is your family?’ But then, depending on the age of the child, they might ask ‘what if your favorite color?’, ‘what do you do for a job?’, or even, ‘would you love coming back to my country?’

I love taking time to answer the questions that our sponsored children have because it gives us a chance to let them know that we are reading their letters, and the questions they ask are important to us.

My best advice to you on letter writing right now…send a letter at least once every other month. Go back through your letters from your sponsored children and see if you have answered all their questions. Bring up something from an old letter that makes you smile and tell them why you loved what they wrote. Use this time to remind them that God is watching over them.

And if you start to get frustrated about the amount of time that is passing with no letters FROM our sponsored children, remember that we are a sponsor to help them have a better life, to be released from poverty in Jesus’ name.

If you happen to be in a position to sponsor a Compassion children, I encourage you to do so! With all of the live events being cancelled, there are many children waiting to be sponsored.

Be sure to let me know if you sponsor a Compassion child! I would love to encourage you as you start this amazing journey to be a part of changing a life!