Last weekend my daughter and her family met us in Uncertain, Texas for the weekend. We had a great time at Caddo Lake, taking a boat tour of the lake. We spent Sunday afternoon in Jefferson, Texas attending the Mardi Gras parade. While some of our group were shopping the antique stores in Jefferson, the rest of us took a walk on the nature trail along Big Cypress Bayou.
My seven year old grand daughter loves to take photos with my camera. As we were walking on the nature trail along Big Cypress Bayou I let her use my camera. I am a proud Papa, but I really think she has an eye for photography. All of the photos in this post were taken by her.
I can't wait to see more work from this budding photographer. I think she has a great future.
A few years ago my friend Richie Owens spent a year of his life writing and recording an album. I remember his enthusiasm as he would bring me new songs to listen to. Songs just seemed to pour out of him as he focused on this project. One of my favorite songs that he wrote was titled "Like A Child". Richie ended up choosing the song as the title track of the album. Here are the lyrics
I remember the story from when I was young
Where Jesus was teaching one day
And there were some little ones come to see Him
But the men tried to send then away
Little did they know this gentle young man
Was the one by whom all things were made
He decided to make an example of them
To explain something He had to say
Let them come unto Me
For such is the kingdom of God
Come ye also like them
For unless you do you'll be lost
We have to trust fully in Him, not ourselves
Rely on his word before anything else
We can grow great in stature
In wisdom and health, undefiled
But be like a child
These are hard words in the world which we live
When dog eat dog's putting it mild
'cause some of the things Jesus asked us to do
With this world just can't be reconciled
But we know he has made the way for us
And we know he has conquered the grave
And we know that His grace is sufficient
So that all who will can hear Him say
Children come unto Me
For yours is the kingdom of God
You have conquered the world
For you followed My staff and My rod
You trusted fully in Me not yourselves
You relied on My word before anything else
And you never grew to big to stay in My arms
All the while...Welcome home, child
The other day as I was listening to the album (it is still one of my favorites) I started thinking about what Jesus actually meant in Matthew 18:2 - "Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven".
That really is a blunt statement. If I don't become as a little child I will not be saved. It is very important that I understand what Jesus meant. My salvation depends on it. As I was considering this question, an important characteristic of little children came to mind.
One characteristic of little children is that they look up to the adults around them, especially parents. They don’t want to be left alone. They feel secure when they are with their parents. That is the way a Christian should feel about God. We should want to be with God.
In our relationship with God, we adults are in the same position as our children, except that we don’t know it. We sometimes behave as if we are running our lives, and that we are in control. We feel capable, and sometimes to such an extent that we feel we don’t really need God.
We need to know, that we are not in control. Like a child, we should always be looking up to someone for security and for help. We need to remind ourselves that we cannot handle life with our own wisdom or capabilities. In Proverbs 3:5,6 the Bible tells us "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.
This childlike quality was brought home to me by a story that my daughter told me about my granddaughter. While my granddaughter was attending Vacation Bible School, one of the activities that she was involved in was making a scroll like people used in Bible times. When she finished her scroll she told her teacher,"this is for Jesus. I'll give it to him when he comes to pick me up".
That is the kind of childlike faith that we all need to have. We are just waiting for Jesus to come pick us up so we can go home, and we have no doubts that he will be here soon.
Here is a slideshow that I put together with the Richie Owens song "Like A Child".
Restore a Child is a charity that I support. Their mission is restoring children to life and health, teaching them to learn and lead with love, restoring harmony and justice in their communities and the world. Restore a Child helps to provide children in desperate need with the basic essentials necessary for them to live healthy, fulfilled lives.
They are currently working in fifteen countries; Bolivia, Chad, Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Ukraine, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The story of Restore a Child is really the story of it's founder, Norma Nashed. Norma was born in Ramallah, Palestine but was raised in Jordan. Throughout her childhood she experienced extreme poverty as an orphan. She believes this has prepared her heart to be sensitive to the needs of economically-disadvantaged children and those orphaned due to HIV/AIDS and living on the streets in Africa and elsewhere.
The idea of caring for needy children began while she was fighting cancer. Norma stated in an interview with Alita Byrd, "In 1998 when I first got cancer my life was empty – I wanted my life to be one of meaning and significance. So I left my job where I had worked for 12 years, and started a ministry to help suffering, starving and sick children, with a focus on orphans.
Leaving my job allowed me time to reflect on what is important in life. I found that there are more than 150 million orphan children in the world, and five million children die every year due to hunger, or close to 14,000 every day. In the 21st century this is unacceptable. I realized I had a job to do to save children.
That was 14 years ago and I still work in a small den in my apartment without pay. God is the Provider and He promised to take care of me. Sacrificing my life gave me purpose, meaning and significance – I wouldn't exchange that for anything this world might offer.
The first few years I used my own savings and then my family and a few friends helped. Later it became necessary for me to start fundraising. So I designed my own simple flyers and brochures and sent them to friends. I was interviewed on television and several newspaper and magazine articles appeared featuring the charity. Awareness of Restore a Child increased. Restore a Child depends on donations from individuals and small grants from a couple of foundations.
In 2012 we hired a part-time employee to help me.
I must admit being that raised poor and living in developing countries made me aware of the need to be wise and alert when choosing partners for projects abroad. So we work with trusted missionaries and friends, and we partner with already established orphanages and schools to be cost-effective and use all resources to the maximum benefit of children".
Norma's vision was big, and now her organization is providing basic care for over 4,000 children. Her newest project is in Haiti, in partnership with Upward Bound Ministries. They are building a model village that includes a Restore a Child Academy, an academic and vocational training school and several homes for orphan girls.
In addition to securing land for building the school, they have secured another plot of agricultural land with fruit trees next to the model village where they are already growing produce for a sustainable food supply.
The building project is beginning in 2013. Restore a Child is looking for individual and corporate sponsors to help with the construction of this model village.
There are many ways to help support Restore a Child. One unique way to donate is through their Gift Catalog. Their are options as low as $10.00. Donors can choose which projects they wish to support, including such things as providing cooked meals at school for six hundred children in Nairobi, Kenya and helping orphans from one of the seven Restore a Child orphanages in Indonesia benefit from a work-study program where they learn how to grow their own food.
If you would like to be a part of a great charity with as low an overhead as I have seen, learn more about Restore a Child at their website. When founder and president Norma Nashed was asked about the many other charities helping children around the world, and how Restore a Child is unique, she answered, "there are a lot of charities out there competing for funds in the name of children. But Restore a Child is unique in that as president I do not draw any salary or benefits. I even donated all my retirement funds and savings, in addition to working long hours – sometimes 18 hours a day – to run the organization. What organization have you heard of where the president or CEO works that hard for 14 years without pay? I believe this is a big factor in our growth. When donors invest in Restore a Child, they can be assured their funds don’t go mostly to cover salaries and overhead".
According to UNICEF statistics 5 million children die each year because of starvation, let alone lack of water and medical care. What happened to human compassion? What are we going to do to change this picture?
