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Continuing our conversation from the last blog, today I want to talk about the classic holiday story “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” The Grinch had no Christmas spirit. He lived alone high on a mountaintop, away from society, fending for himself. Cast away by so many for so long, many would say he had an evil spirit scaring passersby and trying to steal Christmas.
But, as the 2000 Jim Carrey remake of this tale shows, The Grinch wasn’t always this way. Despite his unconventional looks and behavior – his spirit wasn’t bad as a child. He was a kind, fun-loving soul just like any other kid. He tried his best to get in the Christmas spirit, but teasing and taunting from the other Who’s broke him. So he became an outcast, fled to live alone high on top of a mountain for years to come, hating the Who’s and letting evil control his spirit.
You could say that his spirit was broken, until Cindy-Lou Who came and changed that. She too was in search of what it means to be in the Christmas Sprit. She found her spirit by bringing joy to others and helping the Grinch find joy again.
The lesson to be learned here is that only through kindness, can we change a broken spirit, and spread peace and happiness in the world. Much like the Grinch, there are several orphaned children in Uganda, alone, in dangerous environments, left to fend for themselves with no shelter or protection from people who care. For some, their spirits may be broken, some may be forced to darken their spirit by doing things like cheat, lie or steal just to survive. But they too weren’t always this way, and their spirits can also be mended.
If we’ve learned one thing from the story of The Grinch and Cindy-Lou Who, it’s that spirits can be repaired with a little love and kindness. Will you be the Cindy-Lou Who to our kids this year? For just $240, or $20 per month, you can sponsor an orphaned child in Uganda, providing them with a year’s worth of education and shelter at one of our schools. That’s a year to show them compassion, teach them kindness and provide them with the family they desperately need. A year to help heal their broken spirit and prove to themselves that they can break free from the cycle of poverty and be a productive citizen towards the healing of their nation.
We’ve got the spirit to continue on in the fight against poverty in Uganda. Yes, we’ve got spirit, yes we do. We’ve got spirit, how about you?
Wishing Many Blessings
Cristen
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I hope you have had an amazing holiday season filled with love, laughter, joy and family.  By now you’ve hopefully had time to decorate the house, put up the Christmas tree, bake cookies, drink hot chocolate, gaze at your neighbors holiday lights, and most importantly spend time with those you love. Yes, the Christmas spirit is all around us.
In the spirit of the season, let’s just see what that really means. In a two-part blog, we’re going to explore the word spirit in a special edition of the Weekend Word.
 
spir·it
ˈspirit
noun
 
1. the nonphysical part of a person that is the seat of emotions and character; the soul.
 
2. those qualities regarded as forming the definitive or typical elements in the character of a person, nation, or group or in the thought and attitudes of a particular period.
Oftentimes we refer to the spirit as if it’s inherently a good thing. Just like the old cheer goes “We’ve go spirit, yes we do. we’ve got spirit how about you?” Nobody says what kind of spirit they have, we all assume based on social cues it’s a good spirit based on bonding by a group or nation. But that same bonding can be used for bad as well. There are 15 types of spirits in the Bible, some bad and some good; but at the end of the day, everyone has a spirit.
If everyone on Earth has a spirit, then I believe it’s our job to make those spirits whole, and filled with as much happiness and light as possible. Outside factors may bring us down and break our spirits quite a bit, but as the old motivational saying goes “Whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” It means that in the face of adversity, our spirits may be down in the dumps, some might say broken. When we face a struggle we can and must do whatever it takes to heal our spirit and let our true light shine.
At Hope for Hearts we certainly have spirit. We are warriors of the soul. Helping children at the worst times in their lives work hard to battle their physical and emotional wounds. heal their own soul, and lift themselves from poverty to prosperity. We do this so that one child at a time, we can help lift the spirits of an entire nation.
To Be Continued…
Cristen
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As you’re busy bustling about preparing for the holidays, please keep our kids in mind. Whether it’s as simple as signing up for Amazon Smile, making a donation on Giving Tuesday, or purchasing a handmade Kambulago as a gift, supporting Hope for Hearts this holiday season is as easy as 1… 2… 3!

  1. Shop Amazon Smile
    Whether you’re planning on participating in Cyber Monday, or simply purchasing items online at Amazon, if you haven’t already signed up for Amazon Smile, you should. It’s easy. Simply sign up at smile.amazon.com, select Hope for Hearts as your charity of choice, then do all your amazon shopping from smile.amazon.com, and a portion of the proceeds will go back to our organization. The best part about this program is that there’s no fee for you to sign up, and a portion of the proceeds from products you’d be buying anyway will go back to our organization. So why not put the money to even better use?
  2. Giving Tuesday
    After Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday comes our favorite shopping holiday – Giving Tuesday. It is a day to show your gratitude for all that you have by giving back to the local community. All donations are tax-deductible, making it a great, easy way to give your year-end contributions to a worthy cause. You can participate by making a donation to support our children online at https://hope4hearts.org/donate.
  3. Kambulagos (necklaces)
    Looking for the perfect stocking stuffer or small gift to give a teacher, colleague, etc.? But one of our handmade kambulagos (necklaces). They’re the gift that keeps on giving! We purchase the kambulagos from women in Uganda who hand-make and sell each necklace to make a living and support their independence. The necklaces are eco-friendly and made from recycled paper – ensuring each one is truly unique and one-of-a-kind. When you purchase one of these necklaces from us, the proceeds go back to providing a hand up to the orphaned children in our schools. The necklaces are made by a guest teacher of the school’s art program that teaches our students how to make this jewelry and sell it as a business to support themselves once they graduate. So we are still supporting the school programs with these beads.

Browse our products and make your purchase today at https://hope4hearts.org/products.

However you choose to support Hope for Hearts this holiday season, no contribution, no matter how small, goes unnoticed. We depend 100% on private donations. Every donation, large or small, supports our mission to educate up from poverty to prosperity. Here are just a few examples of where your money goes!

  • $25 provides two children a month of meals
  • $120 purchases a sewing machine
  • $240 one child, one year of education
  • $625 feeds 50 for a month
  • $1,200 sponsors five children for the entire year

With Gratitude,
Cristen

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Why is a raven like a writing desk? A riddle that has baffled the truly curious for more than a century. The answer: there is no answer. Though many have come up with their interpretation, When Lewis Carroll originally wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the riddle was meant to go unsolved. This is just the kind of silly and curious antics The Mad Hatter would provide for the story.

So why are we talking about ravens and riddles in Wonderland? One guess… on 10/6 the world celebrated National Mad Hatter Day. Creators of this day, chosen for the Hatter’s hat band which read “In this style 10/6”, intended it to be a day to show your silly side. Play jokes, make up nonsensical words, go a little mad.

But things get curiouser and curiouser…

Curious Events Day is Monday, Oct. 9, and I find the close timing off these two holidays a bit serendipitous. The day is celebrated by pondering upon whatever makes you curious, like why is a raven like a writing desk?

In honor of these two days, I decided to discuss curious in this week’s weekend word, and found myself fascinated by what I found.

cu·ri·ous
ˈkyo͝orēəs/
adjective

  1. eager to know or learn something.
  2. strange; unusual.

They say curiosity killed the cat, but I don’t like to look at that glass half-empty point of view. It takes a whole lot of curiosity to be successful too. A mentality of “what could I do if I…” Just take it from one of the most successful and well-known scientists of all time…

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein

It is the passionately curious who are more likely to make it in life. Those who learn to ask why and question everything around them. Questions lead to answers and answers are knowledge. The more you know about the world around you, the more you can use it to be successful and do great things.

Alice in Wonderland reminds me of the kids in our schools. While Alice had parents back in the real world, in Wonderland, she was an orphan who relied on her curiosity and the support from those she met along the way to help her ultimately get back home safe.

Our kids are stuck in an alternate Wonderland. One where there are more enemies than friends and a lack of resources to help them survive. It is their curiosity, and the support from new friends like the nuns and fellow students, and strangers like you who provide financial aid, that will ultimately make them successful individuals.

I firmly believe that the kids we support at Hope for Hearts will be wildly successful because, like Einstein, they are passionately curious about learning. They are constantly finding new ways to learn about the world around them so they can change their life and lift themselves from poverty to prosperity. I’m awed by their constant quest for knowledge and know that with your support, we can provide them with many of the answers they seek.

Please make a donation today to support the adventures of an orphaned child in need so they too can make it home safe.

Peace,
Cristen

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To Thy Own Self be True | Hope for Hearts, Uganda

September is here, and fall is just around the corner. I hope you’ve had a relaxing summer filled with fun and family. Now, with kids back in school, holidays around the corner, and a new year ahead – it’s time to get back to business. Perhaps that’s why September has been designated Self-Improvement Month. To kick-off the month I thought we’d explore self-improvement in this week’s weekend word.

self-im·prove·ment
ˈˌself əmˈpro͞ovmənt/
noun

  1. the improvement of one’s knowledge, status, or character by one’s own efforts.

Self-improvement requires a person making positive changes to themselves through their own efforts. It takes a lot of introspection to determine which areas of your self you would like to improve, as well as time and effort to make those changes.

To Thy Own Self be True | Hope for Hearts, Uganda

If you don’t know where to start, try the mind, body and soul approach. Here are our top 3 tips for self-improvement in each category:

Mind

  1. Read a Book – Whether you want to learn more about a subject in business or personal development, or just want to read for fun, there are several calming benefits to reading that are good for your mind.
  2. Meditate – Meditation has a great calming effect that allows you to focus on what’s most important to you and letting go of all the clutter in your mind. You don’t have to meditate for a long period of time to feel the benefits. A simple 5 minutes a day will do. Don’t know where to start – research meditation guides on your phone’s app store or online.
  3. Clear Your Energetic Chaos – The universe and everything in it is made of energy, and when your personal energy is at an imbalance, it can affect every area of your life. There are two main areas of our lives that can contribute to energetic chaos – biology and physical space – and by making the right changes in these areas, you can help restore balance to your energy. Head on over to our friends at Graceful Spaces to learn more about how you can balance your energy with BioEnergetics and applying Feng Shui to your home/office.

Body

  1. Find a Workout that Works for You – While it’s a great option, getting exercise doesn’t have to require a gym membership. There are plenty of ways to incorporate a workout into your everyday life. Go for a longer walk or hike with your dog or family, walk/bike to work if you’re able to and take a walk around the office on your breaks, download workout apps to play on your phone, TV, etc. Find a way to get active and stick with it!
  2. Create a Cookbook – How many times do you come home from work not wanting to cook because it’s too much effort and time to find a healthy recipe? This month, set aside time to research healthy recipes that fit your cooking level and lifestyle so you have an arsenal of affordable, healthy meals at your fingertips.
  3. Meal Plan/Prep – Create system of meal planning and prep that works for you! Set aside time once or twice a week specifically to plan and prep your meals. A simple search on Google or Pinterest will provide you with tons of make-ahead or freezer meals to help. By doing it all in one batch you save time from having to repeat the same tasks each night. Also, you can save money by choosing recipes that have the same ingredients so you can buy in bulk!

Soul

  1. Find a Hobby – Everybody needs to have something they do that’s just for themselves. Whether it’s watching or playing sports, crafting, reading, etc. find something you like to do that’s just for you.
  2. Schedule Me-Time – If there’s nothing else you do for yourself on this list, sit down and find 30 minutes each week that you designate as “me time”. This time is a blank canvas, you can fill it however you want. Just make sure you focus on yourself and not your obligations during this time!
  3. Do Something Good for Humanity – Helping others in your community can be very rewarding. Whether you’re donating time at your local soup kitchen, mentoring someone, volunteering for events or making a donation – your efforts make a difference. Your soul will thank you for it! If you’d like to feed your soul by doing good in the global community, consider making a pledge to support helping an orphaned child in Uganda work towards self-improvement.

For the kids in our schools, every month is self-improvement month. They are constantly working towards creating a better version of themselves that will one day be independent and self-sufficient, able to thrive on their own. For just $20 per month, you can provide a year of education for one child in Uganda. By pledging to make monthly a donation today, not only will you be improving your life, but the life of an orphaned child in Uganda as well.

To make a donation visit: https://hope4hearts.donortools.com/my/funds/64767-Make-a-Difference

“Each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity.”
– Marie Curie

Peace and Love,
Cristen