It was the summer of 2011. My husband and I were sitting on the couch talking. The kids were in bed. And then our youngest son came down and said:

"I didn't know you had a passion child..."

Before I continue, let me just say-- (lest some strange rumor go viral)

There is no passion child.This is not my way of announcing some newly discovered offspring that we didn't previously know about.

We both paused and looked at him with confused expressions.

He continued:

"You know...your passion child. That one on the wall in the hallway."

We quickly realized that he was talking about Yulisa. He meant-- Compassion Child. It was interesting to me that in his seven years of life, this was the first time he'd noticed her photo collection. Our older kiddos knew about Yulisa, but he was pretty young when our sponsorship ended.

I had actually just been thinking about Yulisa, after reading about a friend's mission trip to Bolivia. That's where Yulisa was from-- La Paz, Bolivia.

Jason and I were newly married in 1997. Yulisa was born in May of that same year. We were just out of college and maybe because we didn't have any children of our own yet, we felt an extra special connection to her.

For the first few years, we received letters from her aunt... and then letters from her mom.

And then eventually Yulisa was old enough to write us letters herself. We still keep several of the pictures she drew us in her wall display.

Over the years, we heard about her physical growth, her spiritual growth, her school experiences, her family's changes, and her community.

When Yulisa was ten years old, her family no longer needed as much assistance and she transitioned out of the program.

On our end, there was sadness, but deep down.... we were so thankful.

Still--I've prayed for her over the years, Never forgetting how much that relationship meant to us. She just turned 15 on May 25th. Her birthday is still on our calendar.

Our relationship with Yulisa opened our eyes to needs around the world.Our relationship with Yulisa reminded us to pray for Christians around the world.Our relationship with Yulisa was one small thing we could do to reach out and help.

Even if just in-- One community. One family. One life.

And our relationship with Yulisa was a gift to us.We were moved and changed and encouraged and blessed through the ten years of connection.

My husband and I want our children to experience that too. We want them to be aware of needs. We want them to see how God's Word can impact lives around the world. We want them to have a heart for others and to follow through with real-life-action.

"Nothing that you have not given away will ever truly be yours." ~C.S. Lewis

We'd clicked on the link to Compassion International many times over the years, but had failed to follow through, To commit. But after that conversation with our son,We decided it was time for our family to sponsor another "Passion Child".

For the last 18 months we've been blessed by a growing connection to a little one in Honduras. Her pictures and artwork are posted near our kitchen table as a reminder to pray. And once again, though we hear reports of the way Compassion International is helping her community, and family, and... Helping her to know who Jesus is and about His love for her, The blessing has been very much felt in our family as well.

Would-could you consider this for your family? Reaching out to sponsor a "Passion Child"? Or choosing a gift to send from Compassion's Christmas Catalog?

During this Christmas season... Please consider how God might use your family to share the story of His gift to us-- Jesus.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed." ~Luke 4:18

With Love, Kara @ The Chuppies