Honor and Sprinkles

I am excited to have Breanne from A Quest for Truth (and Sprinkles) guest posting today!  She is the author to the 600th comment on my blog :)

Breanne is a Compassion sponsor and correspondent.  She loves God most of all, and she also enjoys being around people, writing, and coffee.

Sitting at a short brown table, I looked around at the young faces, some looking at me, some rustling through the books in front of them. 

“What do you think?” I repeated. “How can we show someone honor, show them that we find them valuable?” 

It was a difficult concept for kindergartners to grasp, but I wasn’t daunted. I waited.
Finally, one hand went up. I called on him. 

“You just tell them,” one child said, looking up at me from the seat beside me. And he was right. 

** 

I’m always amazed at the lessons I learn from teaching a class of kindergarten and first graders. Often easily distracted, they still often see straight to the heart of issues. When we discussed showing people honor, explained as showing them that you love them and see value in them, they understood that loving people is an action. 

That was the story I thought of when Lizzie first asked me to guest post on her blog. I first came across Lizzie’s blog when I heard about her beautiful sponsor bracelets then again during Compassion Blog month. I am always excited to read about other sponsorship journeys and gather ideas from other sponsors about how to further bless my own Compassion children. And I love her theme of “Love is an Action,” because that’s what the Christian life is all about. 

For me, and for many other Compassion sponsors, the command to “Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27) is lived out, in one way, through loving and honoring children across the globe. Our love is not passive, a tossing of money at a problem. The core of our love is the action it takes to write, to encourage, to “just tell” these kids that they are valuable to us and that their life and dreams matter. 

My students and I finished our class time together by going around the circle and affirming each student: I encouraged those who are good at including new people; a couple students said they appreciate when another student played games with them; that one student tries really hard to make good decisions; one girl gives the best hugs. Hearing these words leaves a lasting impact on anyone, but especially a child. 

Children enrolled in Compassion’s program are no different. I tell my sponsored kids that I’m proud of their hard work in school, that I appreciate the time they take to draw pictures for me, that I support their dreams to be doctors and teachers. But this love and honor shouldn’t stop with these kids. It should permeate my every interaction with anyone. That’s speaking Truth into the hearts of those around me. 

My blog is called “The Quest for Truth (and Sprinkles),” referring to my passion for using my writing to look for God’s Truth in the everyday as well as the beauty, the unexpected “sprinkles” of blessings He brings. I know someone’s affirming words to me are definitely sprinkles in my day. Will you join me in spreading some sprinkles in lives this week?
How can we show someone honor? We just tell them. 

I also ask my readers to share sprinkle sightings in the comments, so if Lizzie doesn’t mind, I’d invite you to keep an eye out and share your day’s sprinkles with us!

I look forward to hearing about your day's sprinkles! :)  (You'll be blessed by reading her blog!)