Yesterday I was delightfully surprised with an unexpected photo update for my sweet Helen Angela.

I’ve been sponsoring Helen Angela for 7 years and have never, ever received a photo of her smiling – until now.

Now, after longing to see her happy in her photos, I get the most precious smile. It’s a quiet smile, hiding mostly in her eyes, but it’s there – oh it’s there.

And I can positively say that the smile that’s now creeping into her photos is, at least partially, due to the increased correspondence between the two of us. I know that once she started getting regular letters from me I could tell a difference in her responses – they were more detailed, longer, and generally more specific. She started asking lots of questions, and was eager to answer all of mine.

If you haven’t written to your sponsored child in a while, let me urge you to write today – write now (pun intended). Compassion has a wonderful online writing tool that works much like email & lets you attach photos to your letters. Or, if you want, I have several letter writing templates that work like writing prompts allowing you to “fill in the blanks” and send a meaningful message quickly. How you write is not important – what’s important is that you take the time (even if it’s only 5 minutes) and send a note, send a card, send love to the child(ren) who are desperately waiting to hear from you.

***I sponsor three children through Compassion International, a Christian child-development organization. To learn more about Compassion, or to sponsor a child of your own, click here.