Sharing Her Heart

    Wow, where do I begin? I have just spent some time reading different blog posts from the Compassion bloggers who are currently in the Philippines. I have been touched and challenged in so many ways. I read about a girl named Denise and her family in a post found here: http://simplemom.net/the-opulent-ability-to-give/#more-13598 and I read about how Compassion uses the money from sponsors and how they keep track of EVERY penny here: http://shaungroves.com/2011/05/a-magic-trick-for-kristen/ and I also read about the child survival program and how it helps mothers and their babies start a new life here: http://jonesbones5.com/2011/05/31/the-prayer-of-a-mother/ I just love learning more about compassion and what they are doing in the world. I’m so glad that I am able to be a part of it, even if my part is small. If you have ever thought about sponsoring a child, but it all sounded a bit sceptical check out these 2 posts by Shaun Groves http://shaungroves.com/2011/05/a-...

        Lately, I’ve been in a bit of a slump. You see, I’m just a stay-at-home mom and sometimes I just don’t feel that my job is all that important (at least according to what other women do for a living). But God has been reminding me how very important my job really is. So, I thought I’d share a bit of encouragement for those of you who are in the same spot as me.        The other day I received a phone call from a telemarketer. When he asked what I did for a living I told him that I was a homemaker. He was from the United States and he said that down there they call them ‘Domestic Engineers’. I like the sound of that. In reality we don’t just ‘keep the home’, we keep our families .  Keeping the family is a big job and it’s not for the faint at heart. We are called to be teachers, nurses, housekeepers, head chefs, bakers, sales people, exterminators, gardeners, accountants, etc. We get to do, not just one sp...

Today as I was absently staring out my patio door (as I often do!), I watched the umbrella on my patio table blow wildly in the wind. And I couldn’t help but notice that my mosquito coil holder (the orange circle at the base of the pole) did not move ( it’s quite light so I expected it to slide all over the table). Seeing that reminded me of the song “ I will not be shaken” and I was gently reminded (yet again) that we should not allow the conditions in our lives or of the world, to move us or shift us from our focus on Christ. Let the wind blow all around us cause “WE WILL NOT BE SHAKEN, WE WILL NOT BE MOVED!" Just a thought that I wanted to share. Have a great day! Andrea

     Do you ever get tired of feeling like you never say or do the right thing at the right time? I sure do! I always think about what I should have said or done long after the moment is passed. The more I think about it the dumber I feel. “Why can’t I just ‘be’ like the other godly women I know?” “Why do I constantly mess up?” These are questions that battle my mind quite often. I just don’t ever feel like I have it together. Take Sunday morning for instance: my husband was ushering so I was in charge of both of our kids for the first little bit of church. No big deal right? It should be easy. I have 2 kids not 8, so there should be no worries. WRONG! My kids sure know how to pick the days that they are not gonna behave and Sunday was one of them. Here’s just a bit of my Sunday morning: as soon as I sat down my son started to whine (he has a whine like no one else, as my sister so lovingly put it) and he would not stop whining. His nose was running also, so I took h...

What makes a woman beautiful? Is it her hair? Her skin? Her clothes (or lack of)? Maybe it’s how much make up she has on that day. Or how much Jewellery she’s wearing?  Whatever the world thinks of beauty is the opposite of what God thinks. The world has made beauty out to be something totally fake. Plastic surgery, LOTS of cosmetics, extreme dieting, all those awful things that women do to themselves to be ‘perfect’(?). Really, what is perfection? There is nothing (and no one) on earth that is perfect. So we can stop trying. How about we just be Real instead? Let’s be ourselves, children of Christ, loving in our attitudes and actions and giving of our time to serving others in his name. In doing those things which he calls us to do, we will be B eautiful women, women with gentle and quiet spirits, blessings to our husbands and children, and a joy to meet. Let’s show this world exactly what the CREATOR defines beauty as. Purity, Gentleness, Self-control, Love, Patience, Kindnes...

  OK, so with the beautiful sunny weather that we’ve been having, I’ve been outside a lot enjoying it. So as you may have noticed, I haven’t been posting as much.    I have been thinking lately though about what kind of person I am. I’m trying to ‘label’(?) myself and I think I found the one that fits. I would label myself as a ‘servant’. The reason I give myself this label is because I’m happiest when I can serve someone. I just think about the jobs that I had in my past and I have the fondest memories of jobs where I could help others. I really enjoyed being a cashier, but I had even more fun when I got to help a customer find something. When the item was found, it was so exciting for me. Also as a hairstylist, I really enjoy cutting and coloring hair to help people feel better about their appearance. My current (and most important) job right now is mom & wife. I get to serve people all the time! Sometimes however, when it comes to every day household chores, I nee...

Summer is on it's way!! After our cloudy, rainy week last week it sure is good to see Mr. Sun again! We had a lot of nice weather last weekend so here's a couple of pictures to show you what we did! The kids and I also went for a walk yesterday to watch my brother's baseball game. We only caught the last little bit, but it was a fun walk for us. I think we will probably walk to Arielle's baseball tonight as well.   Also this weekend I sent letters to my 'boys' again. I was actually a week later than usual, so I made sure to have them in the mail by Friday. I'm still waiting for letters from my other two boys (Niyomugabo sent me 1 already!). I check my mailbox every day hoping for something! Psalm 71:14 "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more." Are you hoping for a letter as well? How long has it been since you last received one? Have a blessed day!! * Andrea *

   Psalm 46:1-3 " God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though it's waters roar and foam  and the mountains quake with their surging." This was my devotion passage this morning. I just love the way It's written. "Even if the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea, we will NOT fear!" That is so comforting if you really think about it. God wants us to be assured that he is always there for us, that he is our 'safe' place. The place of no fear. The place we can go when there is no where else, and no one else. He is always there patiently waiting for us to open the door and invite him in. There is no 'handle' on his side of the door, it's up to us to open it. Have you opened the door to him lately? Just a thought... * Andrea *

     What a great weekend we had! I was lucky to have my husband home on Friday for the day. So we were able to get some things done around the house and yard. On Saturday, we had 'work day' at church. That was a lot of fun. It's nice to get together with other members of the church in a more casual setting and get to know them better. It's also nice to see what kinds of things the church needs to have done in order to keep it in good physical shape. I really enjoyed the morning that we spent helping. On Sunday, it was Mother's day (of course, you all know). But more importantly, it was baptism day at our church. We had 5 young men profess their faith and get baptised, as well as 3 young ladies become members. It was so awesome to me to see 8 young adults on stage proclaiming their love for God. Their testimonies were very inspirational, how they shared what God has taken them from and how he is shaping and changing them. It is awesome that these young pe...

   What a week it's been! It's been really good but really busy. Wednesday Arielle had her first "Learn to play" baseball practice. They had to have it in the arena because it had been raining off and on all day, and was supposed to rain some more. They had cancelled Monday's practice due to weather so I'm really glad that they didn't cancel Wednesday's. It was so cute watching all those little kids running back and forth! Those little minds were hanging onto every word the coach said. So eager to learn! They also had so much energy!! But of course, nothing is ever complete without a meltdown by one of the kids! Well, this time it was mine! Everything seemed fine and then all of a sudden she turns and looks at me and there are tears streaming down her face. So, of course I go to her and this is what she says "that ball was mine!" Apparently some kid took the ball that she had thrown (they all look the same, so I'm not sure how she coul...

    After a lot of waiting and God given patience, it finally arrived!!! My very first letter from one of my boys!!! You cannot imagine (OK, so you probably can) the excitement and joy I felt when I opened my mail box yesterday and saw this: Oh I was so excited! I could hardly wait to get home so I could find out who it was from and read what he had to say. I was so convinced that it was from Alejandro because we sponsored him first, but much to my surprise, it was from Niyomugabo.  This is what he said: "Dear Andrea & Timothy Sawatzky, Niyomugabo Gakwavu greets you in Jesus name. Gakwavu and his family are fine and sending their greetings. They are all happy for you agreed to sponsor him (I'm doing everything but the financial part, so I guess this is right), that they will be praying for you, and may God bless you abundantly. Gakwavu enjoys to play football (I think that means soccer) and he is studying very well. He is asking "What do you lik...

   I've had a lot of things going on in my head lately. Sometimes it's so 'LOUD' in there that it's hard to stay focused (is that a problem for you too?). One big thought lately has been, why do we sponsor children? I mean what is your reason? Mine is to make a difference in someones life, and that is one way that I can. I used to think that we couldn't afford to, but yet once we worked out our finances, we were able to tithe to the church. So then I got to thinking, we give to God every payday but do we have to give all the money to church? If we sponsor a child, we are still giving to God but just in a different way. So that was the thought that started our decision to sponsor. I started to read different blog posts written by Compassion Advocates and learnt a lot about how very important it is to write to your child/ren. It was through reading these posts that I decided to become a compassion correspondent and write to more children. Ima...

  Remember the nice weather we had last week? This is what it looks outside my window today... Anything can happen on the prairies!! * Andrea *