Far away and long ago

A couple of years into our marriage, a TV commercial caught our eye. They were not selling anything really but rather trying to get people to support their cause. I love (good) causes and so does Hrishi, so we jumped right into it. We requested an informational packet to learn more about their organization and see how we could help. The end result was sponsoring a sweet little girl whose smile just won our hearts the moment we first saw her picture. Isn't she cute?

This is the first picture we ever got of her, back in 2003 when she was only three.

Her name is Alejandra and she is from Guatemala. We love getting updates from her every few months on her hobbies, drawings, and her life back home in Guatemala, along with a picture. And we send her and her family updates on us once in a while. She is now a beautiful young girl who now writes the updates by herself.

Since then, we "made" another friend in India: this sweet little boy, Debjyoti who loves to draw, play with his friends, and go to school.

We'd really love to meet them some day as I'm dreaming of traveling with humanitarian projects and all kinds of service opportunities we could take on as a family once Ella grows a bit older. Until then though, we'll be pleased with the more domestic ones, like cleaning our church building.

I'm just so grateful for those good people who are out there working hard to help others of not so fortunate circumstances, who volunteer their time, their means, and their hearts. No better way to spend one's life than "losing" it in the service of others.