It was Abraham Lincoln who said (or perhaps wrote), “I’m sorry I wrote such a long letter. I did not have the time to write a short one.”  The discipline of brevity is not easily mastered. Distilling thoughts to their essence takes much longer.

A few weeks ago, we Children’s HopeChest asked sponsors to describe their sponsorship experience in 6 words or less.

A few weeks before that, the Clarity Group subjected our leadership team to a similar “6 Word Memoir” exercise as part of our strategic planning.  It’s something they might have picked up from the book Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.

I wanted to share a few of the posts here, as sponsors use only 6 words to sum up the experience of sponsoring a child through Children’s HopeChest.

Meets spiritual needs by providing physical.

It opened my eyes.

Fewer orphans.

Lets light shine out of darkness!

Hope for change in the world.

God’s love is shared.

Allows blessings to flow: outwardly; inwardly.

Gives hope to the hopeless.

Change: child -> household -> community -> sponsor. Repeat.

Defeats despair, creates opportunity, emulates Jesus.

Transforms communities. There and at home.

The greatest thing I’ve ever done!

Making lasting connections with a child.

The themes of change, hope, and transformation come through these individual experiences with the sponsorship program.  We’re hoping to add to this by asking the kids to write their own 6 word memoirs about being sponsored in a HopeChest program to see what themes come through in their writing.

If you have a 6 word memoir to offer, leave a comment. And check out the full series on the HopeChest Facebook page.