A week ago today was my 16th birthday. On that day I started my Sweet Sixteen for Sonrise campaign to raise $1600 for Sonrise Ministries.
In the seven days I've been working on this, I've been able to raise over $1000 (2/3 of the way there!!!), had (according to GoFundMe) around 60+ people share the campaign, sold a few t-shirts, & had countless people tell me how wonderful it is & how great I am for doing this for my birthday.
But really, that's just not the truth.
I haven't raised a dollar.
Since the start of this campaign, it's been something I truly believe God wants me to be doing, all I've done since that day is say yes, over & over every single day, & let Him take care of the rest.
Here's the truth:
Every day that I haven't started the day, before I posted a word or sent messages to people or tried to come up with another way to get the word out, by praying for this to be about God & not myself, not one person donated. No matter how many people I sent messages to about it or how many times I shared it or how many people liked the picture I posted, I didn't raise anything if I didn't start with prayer.
But, on days when I keep the focus on God & what He can do & not what I can do, & praying for Him to come through in ways I couldn't possibly make happen alone, on days when I prayed about what I posted & asked God all day long to show Himself through this, those are the days that I've raised hundreds of dollars in one day.
I refuse to believe that could possibly a coincidence or all about timing, not when I've closed my computer & stopped working to pray when I realized I hadn't done so yet that day, & shortly after gotten messages from people who later gave generous donations. Not when the days that I start it right & the days that I don't look so radically different.
The truth is this isn't me! Nothing that has been raised by this campaign has been my doing.
I cannot take the credit for this. It isn't because I designed a cool t-shirt or because I'm such a great person, I'm not. I will not take the credit & I can't let people glorify me for any of this.
This has never been about me, it's not about my birthday, (let's be real, none of these people who have donated would've been giving me birthday gifts anyway), it's not even about Sonrise. It's about saying yes to God & Him getting the glory.
Everything that has happened over the last week has been God-orchestrated, I didn't convince anyone to donate, I didn't changed people's minds or get them to stop scrolling long enough to read my post, or take the time to give 20 or 50 or 100 dollars. None of this has been me or my doing. It's been God, He has this power, I don't.
I'm not doing anything incredible, I said yes because it was really the only choice.
Because caring for God's children isn't an option, it's not a suggestion, it's not something I'm "called" to that you're not. It's a command found over & over again in His Word, all I did was choose to obey it.
So please, don't tell me what a great thing I'm doing, don't tell me you admire me & don't tell me how awesome it is that I've done all this already.
Instead praise God that He cares about his children & thank Him for His love for every one of us, because that's what this is really all about.
p.s. if you want to be a part of what God is doing, you can donate to the campaign here
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Sweet Sixteen
Let's go back a few years.
On my 12th birthday, I was waiting on the day I would have a little sister, & begging my parents to let me go to Uganda soon. I don't think I did anything for my birthday. Honestly, it's not that memorable. {Never have gotten that sister}
On my 13th birthday, I woke up in a guest house in Kampala, Uganda, when my entire life was in chaos. We were in hiding. That one was memorable.
On my 14th birthday, my dad was in Africa & my mom was off talking about Africa & my siblings surprised me with pizza & cupcakes & we laughed for hours. I probably won't remember forever, but it was a fun night.
On my 15th birthday, I went shopping alllll day with my best friend at the time & came home exhausted. {bags full of stuff, but I'd only spent $50 ;)} We went out for dinner that night... a lot has changed since that day.
That day was a year ago, & I'm not gonna lie, 15 has been a rough year.
In the last year, I've lost a lot of people I care about, had my faith tested in painful ways, my life has turned upside down, & is still working on righting itself, I've felt lost, hurt, betrayed. I've felt alone in ways I'd never known or understood, & had to fight against the enemy to be able to find any kind of peace. I've learned a lot about God & about myself & about what He desires for & from me, but it hasn't been easy.
15 was a rough year.
Today is my 16th birthday, & in hoping 16 is as sweet as they say, I want to make this birthday one to remember.
This year, I want to make my birthday matter to someone other than myself. Quite a few "someone"s actually.
In Jinja, Uganda, somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 children are being cared for, raised, & loved by Sonrise Ministries.
These kids are the most cheerful, loving, caring, wonderful children I've ever met in my life. Their love brings me so much joy, nothing would make me happier today on my birthday, than to be able to make their days a little brighter.
I don't want my birthday to be about me, I want it to be about them, about God, & about what He wants for my life.
So, instead of having a huge "Sweet 16" party with all my friends, instead of begging my parents for a car, instead of hoping for gifts and things for myself, I'm turning it around, & hoping for something for people that I love.
Starting today, for the next 16 days, I'll be raising money for these incredible children.
My goal right now is $1,600 (I'm a little into this 16 theme). I'm praying that God takes this little campaign above & beyond that & that over the next 16 days I'll be able to raise that goal to help provide even more for these lovely children of God, but if not, I know he'll use whatever we are able to raise to further his work.
I've been dreaming, scheming, & praying about this campaign since September, when I knew God wanted me to do something different for my birthday. Over the next few days, I'll have some other neat stuff coming out in other ways you can get involved, so watch out for that!
Uganda has been my passion for over 3 years now, there is no way I'd rather celebrate my birthday than to be involved in the mission God has placed in front of me.
I'll shout from the rooftops every day of my life that you don't have to wait until you're older to make a difference in God's kingdom, & yet while I'm here in the states I'm really not making a huge effort to do much. Yes, I spend a few weeks or a few months in Uganda, but I'm tired of waiting until I'm physically overseas to do something.
In the time it's taken you to read this post, roughly 20 children have died of hunger. That's not cool. I want to be able to help the people who are saving children from that very fate, so that they can continue their work & reach out & help more kids.
It's been a rough year, I hope you'll help me start out this year of being 16 in the best way possible!
On my 12th birthday, I was waiting on the day I would have a little sister, & begging my parents to let me go to Uganda soon. I don't think I did anything for my birthday. Honestly, it's not that memorable. {Never have gotten that sister}
On my 13th birthday, I woke up in a guest house in Kampala, Uganda, when my entire life was in chaos. We were in hiding. That one was memorable.
On my 14th birthday, my dad was in Africa & my mom was off talking about Africa & my siblings surprised me with pizza & cupcakes & we laughed for hours. I probably won't remember forever, but it was a fun night.
On my 15th birthday, I went shopping alllll day with my best friend at the time & came home exhausted. {bags full of stuff, but I'd only spent $50 ;)} We went out for dinner that night... a lot has changed since that day.
That day was a year ago, & I'm not gonna lie, 15 has been a rough year.
In the last year, I've lost a lot of people I care about, had my faith tested in painful ways, my life has turned upside down, & is still working on righting itself, I've felt lost, hurt, betrayed. I've felt alone in ways I'd never known or understood, & had to fight against the enemy to be able to find any kind of peace. I've learned a lot about God & about myself & about what He desires for & from me, but it hasn't been easy.
15 was a rough year.
Today is my 16th birthday, & in hoping 16 is as sweet as they say, I want to make this birthday one to remember.
This year, I want to make my birthday matter to someone other than myself. Quite a few "someone"s actually.
In Jinja, Uganda, somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 children are being cared for, raised, & loved by Sonrise Ministries.
These kids are the most cheerful, loving, caring, wonderful children I've ever met in my life. Their love brings me so much joy, nothing would make me happier today on my birthday, than to be able to make their days a little brighter.
I don't want my birthday to be about me, I want it to be about them, about God, & about what He wants for my life.
So, instead of having a huge "Sweet 16" party with all my friends, instead of begging my parents for a car, instead of hoping for gifts and things for myself, I'm turning it around, & hoping for something for people that I love.
Starting today, for the next 16 days, I'll be raising money for these incredible children.
My goal right now is $1,600 (I'm a little into this 16 theme). I'm praying that God takes this little campaign above & beyond that & that over the next 16 days I'll be able to raise that goal to help provide even more for these lovely children of God, but if not, I know he'll use whatever we are able to raise to further his work.
I've been dreaming, scheming, & praying about this campaign since September, when I knew God wanted me to do something different for my birthday. Over the next few days, I'll have some other neat stuff coming out in other ways you can get involved, so watch out for that!
Uganda has been my passion for over 3 years now, there is no way I'd rather celebrate my birthday than to be involved in the mission God has placed in front of me.
I'll shout from the rooftops every day of my life that you don't have to wait until you're older to make a difference in God's kingdom, & yet while I'm here in the states I'm really not making a huge effort to do much. Yes, I spend a few weeks or a few months in Uganda, but I'm tired of waiting until I'm physically overseas to do something.
In the time it's taken you to read this post, roughly 20 children have died of hunger. That's not cool. I want to be able to help the people who are saving children from that very fate, so that they can continue their work & reach out & help more kids.
It's been a rough year, I hope you'll help me start out this year of being 16 in the best way possible!
This is the link to my GoFundMe page where you can read more of my story & what Sonrise is doing in Uganda. If you can give any amount I would greatly appreciate it!
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