Bridget and Brigid's Cross

In the final days of 2015, we added a sweet little girl named Bridget to our Compassion family. Bridget lives in Uganda and is only three years old. 

I first introduced Bridget to you in my December Joy Dare post and mentioned there was a story behind this sponsorship.

As you probably know, I'm a violinist. I'm not just a person who learned to play the violin when I was younger and still play every now and then...I have both undergraduate and graduate degrees in violin performance. My main interest has always been teaching private lessons and I've done that in some capacity for the past 20 years. I've never enjoyed performing much, and in the past 10 years stopped performing almost completely.

Until this past summer.

My husband suggested that I teach our daughters some fiddle tunes so he could take them to the local farmer's market to do some busking. I thought my only part in this equation was to teach the fiddle tunes, but I soon found myself as part of the "family band" (yes, I know it's dorky, but it's fun). I guess I should mention that the girls and I all play violin (fiddle) and my husband plays guitar and percussion.

Our musical repertoire consists mostly of Irish fiddle and folk tunes and we started calling ourselves "Brigid's Cross". Often people ask me who Brigid is, and I tell them she was one of the patron saints of Ireland. I recently realized that I would much rather have a more personal and meaningful answer to give when asked that question. Her patronage is linked to the poor and I decided to see if there were any little girls named Bridget that were waiting for a sponsor.

There were two the day I searched. Two little girls named Bridget. Both were three years old. Both were from Uganda. Both attended the same project.

They were both adorable, but I was drawn to this one. We'll use the money we earn from tips to pay for her sponsorship. And when people ask who Brigid is, I can tell them the name is associated with a little girl in Uganda who is being released from poverty through the ministry of Compassion International.

And talk about the whole family being involved in this sponsorship!