Hey friends! My crew has been working on something pretty fun over here since last fall, and I wanted to share it with all of you!

One of the “big ideas” I had when planning out my role of being a mom was to teach tolerance and to give my children ways to help those that are less fortunate than they are.

Both of my boys are VERY different when it comes to money, and we definitely try to have them divide their allowance/birthday money into three categories: spending, saving, and charity.

Harlan is my saver and Jackson is my spender. Literally, I think Jackson is convinced we own a percentage of Target. Money burns a whole in his pocket until it is spent properly on the toy aisles of our local Target! Harlan, on the other hand, never spends a dime and I’m looking forward to him financing his own car upon high school graduation! Ha!

We “adopt” an angel each year from the Salvation Army at Christmas, and they put $1 in the offertory plate each Sunday when we go to church. But, I have always wanted to truly put a face with their time and money. It has been something that I have been praying about and thinking on for awhile.

Last October, I was invited to attend the Declare Conference. Declare is an AMAZING conference where women that are bloggers, authors, dreamers, etc, come into a faith-based environment and learn from one another. Truly an amazing time.

One afternoon, a woman spoke for about ten minutes about the One Child Matters organization. She told about her family “adopting” a little boy from a impoverished country, supporting him through this charity, and then being able to meet him one day years later. Because of her and her family, this little boy went from not being able to find food to graduating from college and becoming a successful businessman. Not a dry eye in the house, friends. She casually mentioned that she had a booth in the lobby, and I RAN out of that ballroom so fast! It was such a sign to me that THIS was what the Beucler Four needed to do.

So, that night I came home with our new addition. Bless Reid’s heart. Luckily my husband is a very “go with the flow” kind of guy! 😉

After some pretty in-depth discussions of how the charity is run, where all of the money goes, and how it all works, I “adopted” sweet Ham. Ham is a 7-year-old boy from Kenya. Jackson thinks it is particularly cool that they are six months apart! 😉 Our monthly payment of $45 is helping Ham in a multitude of ways. For starters, he is able to attend the World Hope Academy, a Christian school that works to give these children a well-rounded education. The Academy also provides school supplies, health monitoring, nutritional supplements, and counseling. And, of course, teaching Ham about God.

Here is THE best part about this entire organization, we are able to write letters back and forth to Ham. He is a 7-year-old boy in Kenya, so he has a translator help him with writing his letters and reading ours. These letters are SO MUCH FUN to get in the mail, and we are loving getting to write to him!

Ham gives us updates on his life, and loves to ask questions about what we do in Texas!! Every other time he writes, he asks us one thing to pray for. Y’all. I am in tears each time. He has asked us to pray that his family gets enough food to eat and for protection for himself. Oh friends. We are fortunate people, and I am so honored to (1) be able to help Ham and his family, and (2) teach my children that not everyone can head on down to Liberty Burger on a moment’s notice if they are hankering for a cheeseburger.

Ham’s birthday is in June, so Jackson spent a great deal of time last week creating this birthday picture for him. Ham LOVES cars, so Jackson clearly thought this picture was pulitzer-prize winning for our sweet Ham!

We are loving this organization! If you are looking for a charity to become involved with, I HIGHLY recommend this one. One Child Matters is a faith-based organization that helps children in impoverished countries all over the world. The monthly payment of $45 is minimal, and not only does it help Ham and his family, but helps to keep all things in perspective.

In Kenya, 50% of the population is in absolute poverty, and the average person only spends $21 a month on food. Only 3% of kids in Kenya make it to college, so we are hoping Ham is one of lucky kiddos in this small group.

My kids are already asking to go to Kenya one day and meet Ham. Which, how cool is this . . . we can actually go meet him! Now, we don’t have the money or the plans to do that ANY time soon, but how cool that we can one day meet this special little boy that we have been praying for?

If you would like to check it out for yourselves, head on over to the One Child Matters website. Trust me, you will be inspired! XO