Sometimes, you stop blogging for a year and a half- not because you have nothing to say, but because you have way too much to say and no idea which direction to go with it.
It feels strange to be sharing a story that starts with grief while I'm currently in a season of joy. But as we approach two years since this story started, I realize that God has done so much, and it is time.
My older sister, Amy, passed away in 2016. With our 16 year age difference, Amy was a sister, a best friend, and a second mom all rolled into one. She shared my love for children and was a foster and adoptive parent along with her husband. She also shared my love for letter writing and made handmade cards for everyone she knew. She was hilarious and the life of every family gathering.
Although my sister was born with a congenital heart defect and had been in full-on heart failure for over a year, these things had happened before and she always bounced back. Somehow, I never expected this time to be any different. I'd prayed and believed for Amy's healing; and I trust God even though it didn't happen how I had prayed for...even in the moments when I don't understand. As my pastor says: I don't know why this happened, but I know that healing is still the nature of God. Shortly after Amy passed away, I was in bed one night praying, but feeling extremely distracted. I felt like prayer wasn't changing anything. My spirit knew this wasn't true, but all I could see in front of me were the prayers seemingly left unanswered. In the midst of my pain and uncertainty that night, God took my mind off of myself and reminded me of a little boy who I'd seen while in Honduras with our child sponsorship program over a year earlier- and who I hadn't seen or thought of since. I remembered that he had a heart condition like my sister's, and I was compelled to pray for him. His name was Marcos.
At the end of my prayer, I half-heartedly added that if this boy ever needed a new sponsor, I would sponsor him in honor of Amy. I wasn't even sure why I said it, because I knew he already had a good sponsor who was very dedicated to the ministry. I now know that God was the one to place that mustard-seed-sized prayer in my heart that night; because the very next morning, I woke up to the news that Marcos' sponsor was not able to continue supporting him! I was stunned, but knew that God was speaking- prayer still accomplishes much, even when you can't see it. He put Marcos on my heart to pray for just a day before He already knew that prayer would be answered...just a day before He knew Marcos would need someone. I believe this was for me as much as it was for Marcos; and in a way, even Amy's story didn't stop there.
Last summer, I returned to Honduras to visit my ever-growing group of sponsored children and minister in their communities. At long last, I met Marcos and his family for the first time since becoming his sponsor!
Me with Marcos (in blue), his aunt, grandmother, father, brother, and cousin.
Throughout the week, Marcos proudly wore the plastic cross necklace I had given to him and ate up my attention as he asked me over and over again to watch him flip into the swimming pool during our child fun day. My heart explodes with love for this child. I've wanted to sponsor a boy for as long as I can remember. Choosing to sponsor girls is so easy. I know how to connect with girls- dolls, jewelry, princess bible stories... For years, I prayed I would find a little boy who I could love that much. With Marcos, it was easy.
In addition to sponsoring Marcos, I sponsored a sweet girl named Angie on New Year's Day 2017, as a way of declaring God's goodness over the new year after a crazy 2016. I met Angie this past summer, and she was pure joy!
I had also wanted to sponsor a little girl with my sister's name, and hadn't been able to find one. Right around the one year anniversary of her passing, I got a letter in the mail from a child who I had never agreed to sponsor, from a different sponsorship organization that I no longer even work with. It turned out that they had mistakenly placed me on a list for a new sponsored child, and they asked if I would like to keep her. Yes, you guessed it, her name was Amy (well, Aime, but....details.) And later that same week, a little girl named Amy in our program who I had met several times and loved lost her sponsor, so she became mine as well.
(This photo was added to the post later when I visited Amy in June 2018.)
Marcos is truly lucky to have you in his life!
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