If you’ve arrived here via the Noonday Blog Train – thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know each participating Noonday Ambassador and entering in their giveaways. If you have no idea what I’m talking about – click back to this post for an explanation. …
Have you ever held an orphan in your arms?
I did. The picture below is of my husband and I – right before we started dating. The Nicaraguan humidity was an oppressive force that day. We were visiting the infant orphanage of missionaries Tim & Chris Bagwell – an ordinary American couple who saw the plight of those trapped in poverty and decided to change everything about their lives to bring hope to these orphans.
Holding these little ones was an experience that has always stayed with me. One baby girl had been found wrapped in a garbage bag, her legs scarred from the bites of bugs who had wrecked havoc on her body. I often think back to that moment where I traced my finger over those crude bug bite marks. She was probably only 10 – 12 weeks old. My thoughts often turn to questions – how? why this child? why not me? why do I have it so easy (yet so often grumble and complain about having it so hard)?
I came to a point in my life where I feel like I’ve done so many missions trips and been “dropped” into poverty for a bit, then removed and eventually gotten on with my life. I dealt with some “culture shock” upon easing back into typical american life, but eventually life went on…
A series of events in the past couple of years of my life led me to the discovery of Noonday Collection - a company offering American (& Canadian) customers a unique and beautiful line of jewelry, accessories and home goods which are hand made by artisans around the world. These artisans are among the sick, the poor, the orphaned, the widowed, the disabled, the marginalized. Noonday seeks to provide a road out of poverty for these people by giving them dignified work and an income to start a cycle of change. What I do is represent them (and their products) to the people around me in an effort to provide a market for their goods so that they can have a stable income making a change in the cycle of poverty. Your purchase through Noonday matters. It brings change and through economic advantage, offers hope to those who were previously with out it. This is why I jumped on board with Noonday. I felt compelled to do something to make a change, to use my resources in a way to count for something that mattered to our artisans in Uganda, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Peru, Rwanda, Ecuador…
Another aspect of Noonday that I love is the whole bit about orphan care. Through Noonday adopting families can raise funds for their adoption. Noonday also gives toward orphan care and prevention. I want to be a part of the story of bringing home children to their forever families, because I know that I am like that orphaned baby( Ezekiel 16) left in the field yet our Heavenly Father looked upon me with kindness and love and rescued me. In response to the gospel, I want my life to be marked by seeking to reflect this kindness to others. It’s not about you just owning more stuff – it’s a mission and it has changed how I think about how I spend my money, my time and what is driving me.
As I was writing this post my husband looked over my shoulder at this familiar picture and asked if when we were sitting there – did I ever think we’d be rocking our own baby one day. OF COURSE I DID!! I am a girl after all!! 
In that moment, when we weren’t dating but both wanted to be dating one another, I most definitely thought of the future. In truth I wonder if the things being stirred in my heart then and now are leading us down the road to adoption. We’re in the ministry and from my bank account’s perspective – it just doesn’t seem possible. I’ll have to sell a lot of Noonday pieces! But that’s what happened to Jessica, the founder of Noonday!
It’s an honor to be a part of the Noonday team. Noonday is in an exciting place, both as a company and a mission. It’s been fun to represent it here on Long Island, so as a thank you to all my readers – I’d like to offer you a chance to win this bracelet:
In order to win – just leave a comment below. You have from now through January 16th. I’ll pick a random winner from the comments below on the 17th of January.
And don’t forget to head on over to Brandi’s blog for tomorrow’s give -away. She is a fountain of good information for anyone desiring to become more of a conscientious consumer.
Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts. Have fun entering – and don’t be afraid to share this link on facebook/twitter/etc.
The post On holding an orphan – noonday appeared first on Saga of Sam Sutter and Ashley Sutter.
