Homeschool

I got this photo from a friend and I find it quite amusing especially the first photo. I really think that our neighbors must find it quite weird for our children not to go to school and just be in the house especially since everyone leaves for school before 8 am. For other people, they might think homeschool to be just all fun ( or maybe it is, since my kids are enjoying it) and no work. But in reality, our homeschool looks more like the last photo since my kids are so much into books especially at this time.

On Contests and Games

There was a time ( during our 1 year break) that I was joining in a lot of online contests. That was also a time when I won a lot of prizes too. The biggest prize that I won was a free package 8 day trip to North Thailand. We also won free air tickets for 2 to Jakarta, Indonesia and free hotel accommodation in Bangkok which we were not able to claim because of our busy schedules. But anyways, I guess the saying is really true that 'the more you join contests, the more chances you have of winning.' You see, if one doesn't join any contests then of course, he or she won't win any prize, right?

Anyways, I could still remember the very first thing that I won during my elementary years. You see, my parents were members of a 'club' that organizes annual bingo games every summer. So, we were kinda 'forced' to participate but as for me at that time, I wasn't expecting to win anything because the hall was just so full of participants. But guess what, I one one of the minor prizes - a photo album. :) Bingo games were quite popular during my younger years and I never thought that this game could survive during the hi tech era. Well, I was surprised to find out that it still exists now and there are even online versions of it. It's so easy if you want to try it out, because you can just go online and play bingo (sign up now).

Oh, writing about online contests now, makes me miss those days when I had so much of time to search and join contests. It's really an exciting experience to wait and see whether we've won or not. Maybe next time. As of now, I'm quite busy with the kids' homeschool.. since we have a lot of catching up to do.

Our Compassion Sunday Profile

I just finished writing our Compassion Sunday profile and you can find in HERE. I was only allowed to write our story in 800 characters (take note: characters, not words). I felt that it was too short because I still wanted to write so many things about it. And since I can’t write everything there in our profile, I might just as well, write it here. ;)

As mentioned in our profile, we started having the burden to sponsor someone in Africa after watching the news and including the people affected by the famine ( last year) regularly in our family prayers. We then felt led to give a portion of my blogging income to those directly affected by it. We searched for Christian workers and organizations working with them, and that’s when we found out about Compassion. We prayed and gave a one time gift, but then we felt that we have to do something more. That’s when we felt led to sponsor a child. It wasn’t an easy decision for us to make since it would mean that we have to consistently shell out a portion of our income on a monthly basis. That’s a huge chunk from my blogging income on the ‘good months’. And just like any other ‘businesses, there are also ‘low months’. But as what Hubby always tells me, God has blessed us and we must bless other people too and surely God will provide. And indeed, God has provided for us and we’re able to consistently give our monthly support to our sponsored child (reaching one year this July).

God just did not use as a blessing to a child in poverty in Kenya, but God has also blessed us much more than we can imagine. God has blessed us with a relationship with Haron, who is such a sweet and precious child. God has blessed us by making our children concerned about Haron and all the other children in poverty. Through our sponsorship with Haron and knowing more about his life in the village, we’ve realized that indeed there are so many things in life that we can choose to live without and still be comfortable. Indeed, God has blessed us in every way, that we might be a blessing to others.

That’s our Compassion story, we don’t have much but God has enabled us and blessed us… I hope you too can share your blessings to the other children in need.