Works For Me: Our Compassion Notebook

So, we have three more Compassion kids now.  In addition to our boy Dissan, we've also added Esther, Abraham and Joseph--all from Uganda. 

We want to do this well.  We want our communication with our kids to be consistent.  And someday, when I meet them (and I will!  One of these days--I so want to go back!), I want to have a big stack of their letters to show them how much they meant to our family.

So this week, I got organized.  I found an old three-ring binder laying around, and I hole-punched our information on each kid.  I made dividers--one section for each child, so we can keep the letters from them separate.  I had some blank address labels left over from Christmas cards, so I made several with the address for sending in sponsor letters.  I even filled the back of the binder with blank notebook paper, making it even easier to write regularly.

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Comments

[Jill]

no mr. linky

[Smockity Frocks]

I don't see Mr. Linky.

[Briggie]

i can't see mr. linky either...

[phyllis]

okay...me either. but i'll post my link: WFMW - Getting Myself in the Pics

and then come back later for Mr. Linky, I guess:-)

Shannon - great posts about Uganda, and I think your notebook sounds like a fabulous plan!

[Every Chapter]

Yup, sorry- no Mr. Linky...

[Melissa]

Your notbeook sounds like a fabulous way to organize your correspondence!

[Smockity Frocks]

Thank you, Shannon. I TOTALLY didn't mean my first comment in a bratty way. When I re-read it, I'm afraid it sounded that way. So sorry.

[nottryingforaboy]

Your devotion to your boys and Compassion in general is very inspiring.

[Kristen]

You're an inspiration.

[Laura]

That's fantastic Shannon, I'm a big believer in binder organization. So easy and so wonderful!!

[margalit]

I think your dedication to Compassion is so amazing. You're doing so much to help these kids achieve a life outside of poverty and sickness. You rock!

[heather]

What a great idea.

[popsicles on the porch (New Ross King CD, "Perhaps I Said Too Much")]

Sounds like a great way to keep organized and help keep the kids involved!

[Robin # Heart at Home]

Hope you don't mind I colored the WFMW pink to match my blog
http://heartofwisdom.com/images/blog/worksforme.jpg

My WFMW is on decluttering baby clothes.

Thanks.

[Robin (the pensieve one)]

Shannon...wild...

My suggestion this week is for a book, too, in a sense. Great minds??

For now.........tired mind!

:)

[CC]

I'm a new sponsor of a child in Rwanda. I am trying to figure out how to pray for this child and care for this child from so far away. Thanks for your thoughts!

[Smellyann]

Great idea, Shannon!

[Col @ gigablonde [things to do in ny when you're *not* dead]]

Here's to gettin' organized! >clink!<

[Minkydo]

Lovely idea.

[Tara]

No pics. of your new cutie kids!?!

[The Happy Housewife]

I love binders. I started using them about two years ago and now I use them for everything. I have even started my kids using binders.

[Deidre]

Great idea. We just received our info on our first child. Since we sponsored through your blog, I was able to sign up for a scrapbook giveaway (the first 50 people). We received it yesterday and my 6 year old is ecstatic. It has a place for 'Lucy's' picture on the front and then inside you file all the coorespondence. Thanks again!

[fullheartandhands mama]

Great idea. I hope to do this soon.

[Lindsie]

Thanks for this post! I'm going to do this today, we have 2 compassion children and are going to be sponsoring another. After reading about your meeting with Dissan it gave me a new view on our children. We have renewed our efforts to write them and pray for them. Thank you! This tip is a great way to stay organized and drop some excuses for not sitting down to write.

[Lisa]

Just a thought: why not Goggle "Lifebooks" and put a simple one together as a gift for each child [in time]? Pictures are so precious in most 3rd World countries. I'm sure they would be thrilled to get such a book.

[Carisa]

I have followed your blog before and during your trip, although I don't comment much ;) I can totally relate to your post today though because I just created a notebook for each of our sponsored children (both from Rwanda) last week! I was inspired by your trip to be more consistent with our communication too and I thought of making a notebook too ;).

God Bless you as you figure out where you belong in this world. I completely understand what it's like. I am actually now a full time missionary because of the affect a short term trip had on me! We left the suburban south for the inner city north and it is the best thing we ever did. You are in my prayers.

Carisa

[Pamela]

What a great idea! We just got our 3 kids yesterday. My kids were fascinated by the pictures and the stats. I got kids with birthdates the same as my kids so they have that connection. I think this is going to be life-changing.

My husband asked me, "Now how many other families are sponsoring that kid?" And I said, "We're the only ones."

I think he was a little blown away by that. He's serious about it now!

[jennifer]

Love this MEME!! Thanks for hosting:)

[Shelia]

Wow! Great minds think alike. We have a similar notebook. I also put a note on the calendar on a certain day to write. It helps me remember in the middle of all the busyness. That's my goal -- to send a little card or note every month so he (and now she) knows just how much we think about him and her.

[Fiddledeedee (It Coulda Been Worse)]

I love this idea. We will be having a financial meeting here in our house the beginning of March. And we will be sponsoring a child. I have been so moved by Compassion and their mission to save one child at a time. And it seems like it's working.

Sometimes the small steps make the biggest difference.

[spence]

What an awesome list of helpful ideas!

[Laura]

That's a great idea for the Compassion kids! I plan on taking my kids to the library soon to find more info on Haiti, that's where our Compassion child lives. I figure they more they understand his lifestyle, the more they'll get into it.

[Marian]

Oooh. Thanks for the encouragement in this. I've been a Compassion sponsor for 17 years, and I've always felt that I should be more organized, consistent, and purposeful about the correspondance.

[Amy @ The Q Family]

Compassion notebook sounds like a great idea!

[Lindsay]

My sister & I both sponsor Compassion kids. My sister started put all of her letters from Jolena into a three ring binder pretty soon after the started sponsoring her. (She's much more organized than I am.) Then one day she helped me get my letters from my sponsored child organized (by date) & put into my own three ring binder. It's a great idea! And truth be known, having it all together kind of makes me want to write to my kids more. *AND* it's great to take your binder with you if you volunteer at a Compassion table at a concert. Then people can look through it & see that there really is a relationship being built. I'm glad you posted about your binder! I bet lots of people will rush to Walmart & buy their own today for the same purpose!

[Amy]

I love being able to organize stuff into a notebook like that! Great idea, and I know all of your kids AND your Compassion kids are going to be so blessed through your love for them.

[Meshellyn]

I had always assumed notebooks and dividers were only for when I was in school, but they have so many more practical uses! This is a great idea, I'll have now have to decide what area of my life I can apply this notebook organization concept!

[Stroba]

Great idea Shannon! I do hope you get to go back and meet the other children...perhaps with your family someday?

[Kathleen]

We are on our second sponsoring of a Mission of Mercy child. I like your suggestion of a notebook to keep things organized.

God Bless!

[Doris]

Love your post :)

[Stacey]

I think that this is a wonderful way to stay organized with your Compassion kids.

An inspiration, indeed!

[Jennifer in OR]

I'm coming around to the idea of binders to save my sanity. A great idea!!

[minnesotamom]

Great idea! I have kept all Nubia's letters in a box for years, and I'm going to start a scrapbook. But a binder for letter-writing is just the thing!

[Kit]

I just played along for the first time!!! Hope I did it right! thanks, Shannon!

[mzzterry]

ChEaP WriNkLe cReAm!!

[Jamie]

Thank you for this encouragement! I have been a Compassion sponsor for awhile but haven't been very organized or consistent about it! I want to do it well too and like your idea! Thanks!

[Emily]

Thanks for hosting...lots of great tips this week!

[Heather]

Thank you for your fantastic tip - we need to be better organized in this area too!

[Sarah (Genesis Moments)]

great tips!

[Lynley Phillips]

Thanks for hosting...great tips as always!

[Jane]

Thanks, again!!!

[Starr LaPradd]

I love your blog!! I can't wait to meet you at the P31 She Speaks Conference!
Blessings,
Starr