honduras Archives | Heavenly Homemakers

Gratituesday: Practicing Our Spanish With Gladis

September 29, 2014 by Laura 5 Comments

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Our older boys have been learning Spanish with Rosetta Stone software for three, going on four years. It has been fantastic! Asa was really able to use what he’s learning when he went to Ecuador this summer. We love it when these great skills can be applied to real life.

Last week, Matt took advantage of a perfect teachable moment. We received a letter from Gladis, the little girl we sponsor from Honduras through One Child Matters. It is written first in Spanish with help from Gladis’ teacher. Then it is translated to English for us to enjoy.

I typically pull out the letter and start reading it to my family (in English, obviously). But Matt started reading it, one sentence at a time, in Spanish. The boys then got to have fun working together to translate it as he read. They did really well! It was a fun activity with our lunch, and hearing the phrases in Spanish made it seem as though we were getting to know Gladis more fully.

“The girl Gladis is very happy for your present, and is very happy for your prayers.”

gladis head shot

I find it amazing that I can feel so connected and love someone so dearly even though we’ve never met face to face. Praying for someone will certainly do that for you!

I’m very thankful for One Child Matters. Because of them, children’s needs are being met. Most importantly, these children are learning about Jesus and finding hope. While our family has the opportunity to bless this little girl, we are finding more and more that she is the one blessing us. I love how God works!

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday?

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A Special Map to Send Your One Child Matters Sponsored Child

July 24, 2014 by Laura 6 Comments

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It’s been a while since I mentioned One Child Matters here. Last week at camp, I was wearing my One Child Matters t-shirt. This sparked several discussions throughout the day with other camp staff members about what One Child Matters does, who they are, and why we as a family are so excited to be a participant with the organization. It was fun to share with others something we are so passionate about. Oh that everyone would/could help meet the needs of a child in another country by becoming a sponsor.

This might seem a little silly, but based on an idea we had a few months ago when we were writing a letter to our little girl, Gladis – I put together a printable you are welcome to use for your sponsored child. We used a map like the one below, colored in where we live, then colored in the area Gladis lives. We prayed over this, then sent it in our letter to Gladis. This is fun for many reasons, in particular because most children in these situations don’t have maps of their own to look at.

One Child Matters Map

If you’d like, print one of these maps to use in your next letter to your sponsored child: Download One Child Matters Printable Map

Not sponsoring a child yet? Can I encourage you to please look into this, pray about it, and go for it if you feel God’s leading? One Child Matters is an awesome organization, and I’m so grateful and blessed to be working with them to spread the word about taking care of these precious children.

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The “Eating Healthy” and “Save Money” Balancing Act

June 19, 2014 by Laura 15 Comments

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We all want to be healthy. We all want to live frugally. We all want the best for our families. We all want food to taste good. We all want great deals on groceries. We all want delicious food, special treats, our favorite snacks…and if they could be free, cheap, come with a coupon, or be buy-one-get-one free – that would be fantastic.

Yeah, pretty much, we want it all. Is that too much to ask?

Balancing Eating Healthy With Saving Money

Is it just me, or is it tricky sometimes to balance saving money with healthy eating? Especially as our boys get older, I can not believe how much it costs to feed us well. I believe it would also cost a lot to feed us poorly, simply because we eat so stinkin’ much food at our house all the time, every day, all the time. We can not believe the lie that eating well is too expensive. Eating junk is expensive too. I’ve done the math.

I don’t have any wonderful new tips to share today as we work to keep our real food grocery budgets low. I don’t have any great online grocery deals to share. Instead, I just want to encourage keeping a healthy perspective when it comes to balancing saving money with eating healthy.

There really is great, real food out there that is not expensive. It’s amazing all the wonderful combinations of real food ingredients we can creatively put together to feed our families while staying under budget. We do not need to become discouraged, caving in to buy margarine because it’s cheaper than butter, or buying a cheese substitute because it’s cheaper than real cheese. We do not need to skip the fruits and vegetables because we are afraid of the price tag. They are not more expensive per ounce than a box of empty-calorie crackers. I’ve done the math.

God is going to continue to provide for you and your family. I believe the food on your table is as delicious as your attitude dictates it to be. The health benefits of eating the best you can within your means, while trusting God? Priceless.

Tired of the same old cheap real food meals of beans, rice, bananas, and carrots? Ask God to give you more creative ideas, to provide you with what you need, and to give you a heart of thanksgiving. I can almost guarantee that our little Gladis, over in Honduras, has very little variety in her diet, yet all of what she eats is real food and wholesome. She and her family are simply thankful to have food, and they do the best they can. Praise God for his provision!

Remembering her when I look into my refrigerator and pantry keeps me in check. Gladis gives me perspective and offers me a chance to appreciate anew the abundance we have. From thousands of miles away, she shuts my complaining mouth and calms my heart of discontent when I feel like whining about the price of strawberries. How blessed we are to have access to the luxury of strawberries.

I pray we find balance as we seek to eat healthy while saving money. I pray we look at what we have through the eyes of gratitude.

Let’s all continue to feed our families the best we can, while enjoying the blessing of real food – whatever it might look like on our individual tables.

Hoping to get your budget on track as you work to balance healthy eating with saving money?
Be sure to check out BudgetFocus as a wonderful resource!

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Gratituesday: Connecting With Gladis By Studying Maps

April 7, 2014 by Laura 6 Comments

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Once again, today proved that ministry and school can collide, and that no matter what we’re doing, we can learn something meaningful.

After breakfast this morning, the three younger boys and I mixed a geography/history lesson with our outreach to Gladis, the girl we sponsor through One Child Matters. We did a little research on Honduras, where Gladis is from. We printed out and colored maps and flags to send to her. We talked about the distance between our home and Gladis’ (roughly 1900 miles). And we marveled at how big God is to connect us to her in this awesome way.

maps for gladis 1

I should make something clear: My three younger boys are 9, 12, and 14. They don’t sit and color pictures anymore…ever. But when I told them we were making these pages for Gladis, they ran for the colored pencils – even discussing how colored pencils would be better than markers for this assignment because it would look so much nicer and Gladis could see the maps better. Anytime I mention doing anything for Gladis, their response is always joyful and eager.

Maybe I should ask them to fold and put away their clothes in the hallway/do the dishes/pick up sticks in the yard…for Gladis. Think it would fly? ;)

The end results of our creations are simple. We thought maybe Gladis would have fun coloring the rest of the maps, so we left a lot for her to fill in. But we wanted to show her where in the U.S. we are located (Husker red, of course). Do you see the blue shaded areas on the world map below? That’s to show her that she is there, in Central America, and we are here in Nebraska, USA. We’ll be writing a note at the top of that map, letting her know that we are praying for her, that God is taking care of all of us, and that we are sending our love from our home to hers.

maps for gladis 2

I always wish I could see her face when she receives our packages. I’m told that pictures and maps like this are a treasure to these sponsored kids as they typically don’t have many items like this in their homes. How wonderful that such a simple school lesson for our family will be such a wonderful blessing to Gladis and her family.

Want to print out similar pages to do something like this for your sponsored child? Here are the links for where I found ours:

World Map Coloring Page

US Map Coloring Page

Honduras Flag Printables

United States Flag Coloring Page

Check out this cool Distance Calculator to discover about how far away your sponsored child is from where you live.

If you’re not yet sponsoring a child, please join us! I’m celebrating this ministry for Gratituesday today, because of the blessing it is to my family. I want you to experience this too. Bless a child – be blessed. What a rich gift.

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for! Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

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Have You Written Your Sponsored Child(ren) Lately?

March 13, 2014 by Laura 5 Comments

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This is one of those tasks that falls into the same category as “shake your vanilla extract,” “dust your ceiling fans,” and “sort the piles of paper on your desk.” We know we need to get around to it, but other pressing to-dos – like “make sure everyone has clean underwear” – keep pushing those down on the list.

Here’s a friendly reminder and challenge for us all this weekend: Write a letter to your sponsored child.

It will only take a few minutes. It is always enjoyable. Your kids can be involved. And you know, without a doubt, that your letter will bless the child who receives it.

Here’s our little girl, Gladis, holding a package from us last summer. How excited she must have been to know that everything in that envelope was hers!

We’re so thankful to know that One Child Matters is taking such good care of these kids. Our monthly donation plays a big part in that. But simply throwing money at someone isn’t enough. We want to communicate with our sponsored child how much we love and pray for them. A few simple words on paper, along with a colored picture or photo of our family means the world to these kids. Write your sponsored child this weekend! (Next week, I’ll share some ideas for little gifts to include with your letter.)

If you’re not yet sponsoring a child, please join our ministry here at Heavenly Homemakers! You’ll be amazed at what your monthly donation of $39 can do to meet the needs of a child. And your prayers specifically for them are huge. Let’s all be a part of this rich ministry together.

Now, to all of us who already sponsor a child, go start writing your letter – before you forget or become distracted. Then, after you finish, dust your ceiling fans and shake your vanilla. We’ll all feel so accomplished. ;)

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We Chose a Girl

November 13, 2013 by Laura 11 Comments

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When we were invited to be a part of the ministry with One Child Matters, one of the first items on our agenda was, of course, to pick a child to sponsor.

Now, you click over and take a look at all of the hundreds of precious faces of children in need, and you tell me – how is it possible to choose??! It’s only possible with prayer, that is for sure. And that is exactly what our family did. We prayed for God to help us make a decision.

First, we agreed that we would choose a little girl. Why? Well, we couldn’t help ourselves. Matt and I have no daughters. Our four sons have no sisters. Nobody complains even a little bit, because we understand that God knew exactly what he was doing when he filled our home with boys. But in the instance that we could choose, we felt drawn toward a girl – one younger than everyone in our household.

With tears in my eyes, it is my pleasure to introduce to you our little Honduran sweetheart, Gladis…

gladis with package

Her eyes get me every time. And that smile. What a beautiful little darling.

Her pictures have a permanent place on our refrigerator door. Seeing as we eat a lot of food at our house, we see her face dozens of times each day – reminding us often to pray for her and for her family.

I am humbled by the knowledge that our God blesses this child because of a small donation our family makes each month on her behalf. I am in awe of the power of prayer, knowing that God protects and meets the needs of this little girl who lives miles and miles away from us. The Spirit moves, Gladis comes to mind, we pray for her, and God works. Oh, the power. The beauty. The complex simplicity of it all.
Gladis with poster 1

Above you see Gladis holding the “art work” we created as we first introduced ourselves to her. Leave it to us to send a poster bigger than the girl who received it. Hey, we just wanted her to feel the love. ;)

Because of our partnership with One Child Matters and the $34 donation we send each month, Gladis is guaranteed to receive schooling, guidance, nourishment, medical care, and Bible teaching. Because we are connected through prayer, we know Gladis and her family members are being loved on and protected by our Father.

It is so cool to be a part of this!! I hope you will join our family in this ministry! Pray together about it. Get your kids involved. Through One Child Matters, we have the ability to help a child out of poverty.

I believe God connects our hearts with these children through the power of prayer. I can’t describe with words what this feels like. You have to experience it to know.

Remember The Pot of Stew article I shared? One Child Matters is a way I feel called to serve with my family – not instead of my family. We provide our small piece of the puzzle, God does the rest. These children have needs we can be a part of fulfilling by the grace of God.

Our hope is that many Heavenly Homemakers readers will join this ministry. If you do choose to sponsor a child, please take some time to introduce us to him or her! We want to know which one God helped you fall in love with.

As for us, our hearts are all in. Gladis is our girl. Those eyes get me every time. I dare you to look into them without smiling. (Or getting teary eyed, because I still haven’t mastered that one.)

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