Letters to My Kids: July 2012

I totally forgot to take pictures of the letters that I wrote this month. But, I did write two of them to my kiddos.

The first letter I wrote was Jill's idea to write about stars and tell the children that they should shine like stars. I used a lot of Jill's actual words and just changed a few things. Here's what I sent:

Dear Celeste,

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. ~ Philippians 2:14-15

Do you ever look into the night sky at all the stars? I live just in a pretty big city and the lights from the city prevent me from seeing the stars easily at night. But sometimes when I get away from my city, I can look into the night sky and see thousands of stars. I love how brightly they shine and I love looking for the brightest ones.

I love how this verse in Philippians tells us to do everything without complaining and arguing so that we will stand out among everyone else around us – like stars that shine.

Do you know the song “This Little Light of Mine?” This is a popular children’s song in our country that talks about letting our “light” shine – letting the light of Christ shine through us so others can see God in us.

I want to encourage you to try to remember this verse. It is so easy to complain and argue when we have to do things we don’t want to do. It is much harder to do them joyfully, but if you do, you will shine like stars in the universe ~ and your Father in heaven will be smiling down on you.

Will you memorize Philippians 2:14 with me?

Do everything without complaining or arguing.

I Love You Very Much,
Kayla

I wrote a different (Non-Christian) version for my Albania boys. I focused more on shining like stars and avoiding peer pressure, obeying their parents, and working their hardest at school. I think the letters turned out great!

The other letter I wrote to my kiddos was about a baseball game that I went to with some friends of me. Here's what the letter said.

Dear Eric,

The state of Illinois, where I live, is part of what is called The Corn Belt. We are called this because we are known for growing and selling corn. In the summers, we have festivals and games all based around corn. In my city, we have a baseball team that is called The Cornbelters. The colors of the team are white, green, and yellow, just like corn.

A few weeks ago, a few of my friends and I from my job had the opportunity to go to one of these baseball games. I really enjoy watching baseball. Seeing the men hit the ball really far and then run as fast as they can around the bases is really fun. It's also fun to watch the other team try to catch the ball and tag the runner out so they don't score any points. Baseball is an exciting sport.

While I was there, I took some pictures of some of the players while the game was going on. I hope you enjoy looking at them and it gives you an idea of what the game looked like for me when I was watching it.

Do people play baseball in Uganda? If they do, have you ever played baseball before?

What other sports do people play in Uganda? I would like to learn more about your favorite sports and the popular sports in your country.

If you would like to know more about baseball, please ask me some questions. I will be sure to answer them for you in my next letter. I think sports are really interesting to learn about and I would love to teach you more about one of my favorite sports.

I love you!
Kayla

I changed the names and countries for each child, of course. Instead of a baseball letter, I wrote a letter about popular playground games to my Celeste. I figured she wouldn't have much interest in baseball. I asked what games she plays at school. I'm excited to hear back.

Onto August!