Make it. Keep it.

I have never been a fan of New Year's resolutions. Here's my thinking: if you know you need to change something, don't wait for an excuse like January 1st to do it. If something needs to change, change it now. Besides that, I hate how it starts out so adament, and a few weeks in, people all over the country are caving. Why do we keep doing it? It's never proven to be very successful. In fact, when we come up with our resolutions, we do so expecting them to not last.

I just finished writing a Christmas letter to sweet Neema. We have photos of her up on our walls. We sit in wonder as her drawings to us show how she is growing before our very eyes. I cry when I read of her prayers for me. She prays for me more often, and no doubt more fiercely, than even I or most of my friends and family do. God has used her to change the way I see things. She is ten years old and lives in Tanzania. I have known Neema since she was six, when Andy and I became her sponsors.

You can make a New Year's resolution this year and keep it. You can sponsor a child from Compassion. Writing letters to your child is worth its time in gold, for your child's heart, but even more for yours. Compassion makes it easy. You can go to their website, type out your letter, upload some photos and click send. They'll do the translating and mailing for you. This New Year's resolution comes with an eternal impact. And just in case you feel failure lurking in the shadows of February, sign up for automatic payments. You'll never miss your $38... we never do.

With this one act you can:

- love a stranger in the name of Jesus
- begin a new relationship
- change a person's future
- break the cycle of poverty
- help spread the gospel to the ends of the earth

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25; 34 - 40

Resolve to make a resolution you can keep. Sponsor a child today!