Each month, I like to share the letters that I wrote to my sponsored children. I do this for a few reasons. One, is so I don't forget what I wrote about and two, so maybe I can help others when they are feeling unsure of what to write about.
So, without further ado, here are the two letters that I wrote to my kids this month:
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The first letter I wrote to my kids was telling them about how we celebrate new year's here. I also told them about setting goals for the new year and I asked them if they wanted to set any goals that I could pray for them to accomplish in 2013.
I'm not sure when you'll receive this letter, but I want to talk about how we celebrate the new year in my country. In the United States, a new year beginning is a celebration! We think of a new year as a new opportunity to try something new and set new goals for ourselves.
On December 31st, people tend to get together with family and friends to celebrate. I usually spend the day with my family. We have a good meal, play games together, and we like to talk about what our favorite parts of the year were. It's a good time to share memories of the year with each other. When it gets dark outside, people often set of fireworks to light up the night sky. I love fireworks and I think they are so bright and colorful. People stay up until midnight to countdown until the new year. At midnight, people cheer and clap and celebrate that it is now a brand new year!
How do you celebrate the new year in your country?
One of my most favorite parts of our New Year's celebration is making what call New Year's Goals. In my family, we like to choose just one big goal that we hope to accomplish in the next year.
In the year 2013, I really want to work on trusting God more. It may sound silly, but sometimes I have a hard time trusting in God's plan for my life. Sometimes I think that I know better and can follow my own plan. I have learned that this just isn't true and God always knows what's best for me, even when life seems hard at times. Will you pray that I will trust God will everything in my life, both big and small decisions?
After reading my letter, can you think of a goal you would like to make for the year 2013? It can be anything you can think of. I would love to hear what your goal is so that I can pray for you to meet this goal.
I love you very much.I hope you have a good new year
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The 2nd letter that I wrote (to my older children) was a letter about the parable of the Prodigal Son. I love how this letter turned out!
(I wrote a Noah's ark themed letter to my younger kids and sent it along with coloring sheets and stickers. I didn't take a picture of this letter, sorry)
Today I want to share one of my favorite parables that Jesus shared in the bible. This parable is the story of the Prodigal Son. Have you ever read this before? You can find this story in Luke 15:11-32. I encourage you to read the parable before you read the rest of this letter. I hope you have a bible close by.
My favorite verse from this story is verse 24 that says, "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was dead and now is found."
Throughout the parable, the youngest son made many mistakes. He used the money that his father gave him in bad ways and he was not able to afford food and other things he needed to survive. Because he was so hungry, he wasn't able to do good work in order to make money. After living through many hard things, the young son realized that he needed help and he decided to go back home to his father. The son was worried, though, that his father would no longer love him because of the mistakes he made. He returned to his home, ready to be a slave for his father because he thought he no longer deserved love. However, when the son returned home, his father greeted him with a big hug and a lot of love.
I like this story because it shows exactly how God feels about all people. God loves you and me very much. No matter how many mistakes we make, God will always love us. Nothing you or I do will ever make God not love us. Sometimes, we are going to make bad choices in our lives, and God is going to be angry at us. Just like a good parent, God gets angry at us when we make mistakes or bad decisions. But, like the loving Father he is, God will always forgive us and he will always love us. He will greet us with open arms and a lot of love when get to heaven someday. Just like the father said in this parable, when we make mistakes and walk away from God, we are dead and lost. But when we confess our sins and come back to God, we are alive again in the spirit.
I hope you know this to be true. I love you very much
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