I’ve been thinking about sponsoring a child from Compassion International for a few weeks. I started browsing through their website and started recording some of the children I was thinking about sponsoring, about 30 after I was done (I selected most of the ones I saw because my heart just broke for them).

I had no idea where to begin to determine which child God wanted me to sponsor. This is one of the few times I have had trouble deciding on anything. But I knew there was one child that was stuck in my mind: a young girl whose parents were separate by death. I couldn’t remember any more details about her since there was so many profiles that I looked at. So I started praying, asking God to lead me to the child He wanted me to sponsor. 

The next day, I got on Facebook for a moment and the first thing that came up was an ad for Compassion and showed some of the same girls I had seen. I felt drawn to the first girl, so I clicked on her picture.

Mercy, age five, living with her grandmother, her parents were separated by death.

This was the girl I was constantly thinking of since the night before. I knew this was God’s answer to me.

So, I sponsored Mercy. I can’t wait to see how God grows in her life! I pray I’m a blessing in her life and that God uses me to bring light to her life.

Friends, if you have heard how powerful prayer is but have never really seen it, this is my testament to you: I had heard this said before but I never saw it, so I didn’t really see the need to earnestly and constantly be in prayer. It wasn’t really until last year that I started understanding this. God has put me through situations where I’ve learned that He’s the one in control and I’ve had to rely completely on Him, His plan, and His time. That is when I started wholeheartedly seeking Him in prayer.

God can do amazing things, but He wants us to come willingly to Him for help. I have never been in a happier place in my life since I’ve devoted my entire being to God and pray to Him constantly!