God Always Knows: Welcome Elijah!

Have you ever had a God-moment so big that you just had to stop and step back and try to take it in? One that filled you with awe, and maybe brought tears to your eyes? One that made you laugh and cry a little at the same time?

I had a moment like that recently.

But let me start at the beginning.

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you will know that I sponsor a truly wonderful young man named Mbula in Kenya. You may also know that he will be graduating from Compassion's program very soon; this month, in fact. He has received his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (the equivalent to our High School diploma) and is beginning his studies in Computer Technology. To say I am proud of him would be a massive understatement!

So as Mbula is preparing to graduate, and as I am preparing my heart and mind for the fact that I will be "losing" him very shortly, I have also been praying about expanding my family again. I knew a long time ago that I wanted another correspondence child from Kenya, since my experience with Mbula and with my little girl Miriam has been exceptional! So I recently requested that my name be added to Compassion's waitlist for a child from Kenya to write to. Any age, either gender... I just wanted a child from Kenya.

But with that being done, I began to question my own decision. Wouldn't it be better, I thought, to request a correspondence child from a country I have never sponsored in before? And perhaps... perhaps, I thought, I could instead sponsor another young man from Kenya, in Mbula's honor. Seventeen would be a good age... Mbula was eighteen when I began corresponding with him, and twenty when I took over his sponsorship.

I went back and forth on it for a while and finally decided to leave the request as it was. If I got assigned an "itty-bitty", or an older girl (both of which would have been more than fine in my books!) then I would think about sponsoring another young man. Maybe from the Maasai tribe... I've always had a deep interest in their culture. I even saw a seventeen-year-old young Maasai man on the website that tugged my heartstrings... but he was sponsored the next day.

And that was when God decided to step in. I opened my Compassion account one evening to check for new letters... and saw a new face instead.

A young man.

Age seventeen.

Maasai.

Tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor.

And here's the kicker... his name is Elijah. A name that when I was a little girl, I wanted to name my future son.

God ALWAYS knows!

And of course, the addition of Elijah brings my family up to the perfect number of 7.

Welcome sweet Elijah... my miracle son!

Elijah's previous Compassion photos