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| Boys from Sarah's Covenant Homes. Courtesy of www.share11.org |
In my previous entry, I posted a list of 12 things that I hope to accomplish by the end of the year. My 12 by 2012 list. I am happy to report that I have been able to check some items off that list. My inbox is now empty and I plan on keeping it that way. Wednesday I took the items I cleaned out of my closet over the summer to Goodwill (finally). And I think I may have found a new gym. This weekend I am going to make the cupcakes I mentioned, and the frosting. Sing with me "Nobody's gonna break my stride. Nobody's gonna slow me down. Oh no!" Wait! I just had an awesome idea...I should be taking pictures of all this so I can make an awesome 80s montage for you guys! "Please no!" you say? Fine...your loss. Your loss.
Moving on. As you can see, I am making some great head way on my list. Of the 12 items on my list, the one that is most important to me (and will probably be the last to get checked off) is planning a mission/volunteer trip for next year. You guys, I have seriously spent every bit of spare time I had over this last week praying about this and googling my little heart out. This is something I have wanted to do for so long now, I would say it's been weighing on my heart for at least the last 10 years. My friend Jade over at Adventures of a Gringa in Guate... (check her blog out...she is incredibly talented!) has inspired me to follow my heart and finally start making this a reality. Really, I feel it is more than just following my heart, this is something I am being called to do, and I can't ignore it any longer. Anyone who knows me knows I am a very tender-hearted and compassionate person. I've always had a heart for the broken-hearted, and for the longest time I thought it was a curse. All I wanted to do was help those people, to love them and comfort them, to show them that they are not alone. My heart was too big, my wallet was too small, and I was always in a hurry. And I must confess, even when I started researching, I thought "This just hurts. I want to help so bad, but I'll never come up with the money to do this. And I can't take off work...how will I pay my bills?"
Then I found this:
This broke me. My heart burst with joy and sadness all at once. (Us ladies are crazy like that.) I had to find out where these boys were from. A quick Google search later and I found Sarah's Covenant Homes, India. This organization offers family-style homes for physically and developmentally disabled children in Ongole, India. The children that they serve were either abandoned or relinquished by their parents to the state. In India, disabled children are the most likely to be abandoned and the least likely to be adopted. There are restrictions that have been imposed which make it very hard for foreigners to adopt any Indian children. This story in particular crushed me. (I know you guys are getting tired of the phrase "broke my heart"...thought I'd change it up for your sake.)
I finally found where my heart belongs. It belongs in India, and it belongs to the orphans. The neediest of all the orphans of India, the disabled. I found an organization called Adventures In Missions that I have decided to plan my trip through. The mission I would like to go on is scheduled for 10 days at the beginning of April. I am still praying about it. I am ready to go, but scared to death. I'm only employed part-time right now, so I don't have health insurance. I would need to get a passport, all kinds of immunizations I'm sure too. Then there is the money... approximately $1500 by the end of January. It's overwhelming. Oh, and, my family thinks I'm nuts. Always comforting. I also found another mission that I would like to go on. This one is probably what gave my family the idea that I am crazy. It's called The World Race. 11 countries in 11 months. This one excites me beyond belief...and terrifies me beyond belief. I think I am going to go for it though in 2013. It's a little more daunting from a financial standpoint. We'll consider India to be my Rocky Mountains and The World Race to be my Mount Everest. Here's hoping I make it to the summit.
If you would like to learn more about Sarah's Covenant Homes or the Share 11 project, click here.
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