I believe in Sweet Sleep. And I'm a bedhead.

Ashley Hamm and her husband, Clay.

Today, there are many organizations that are doing great things -- with countless opportunities to serve, volunteer, give, and participate in life-changing movements. The endless availability of these foundations that offer and implement much-needed change around the world is amazing, but choosing the right place for your contributions is a difficult decision.

My heart was broken when I first heard the story of Sweet Sleep several years ago. Sweet Sleep, started by a sweet family friend, takes care of our future leaders, teachers, parents, innovators, and world-changers by providing a soft place for orphans around the world to lay their heads at night -- to rest their minds and bodies.

A few months ago, while complaining about the discomfort of my 8-inch-thick, pillow-top mattress, I began looking into the price of a much-coveted and absurdly expensive memory foam mattress. I hear they are amazing. However, around the same time, my sister (and friend) was on a mission trip with Sweet Sleep to Gulu, Uganda. Doing the math, I realized that the price of the mattress that would allow me to jump on my bed without spilling a glass of water, could provide over 30 orphaned children in Africa a bed, a mosquito net, bedding, and a mattress. Enter humility.

I didn't need a fancy mattress to help me sleep better after all. Peace of mind has worked just as well. I am a bedhead because it helps me fall asleep knowing that I am contributing to the comfort of someone on the other side of the world, who is also trying to sleep sweetly. I am a bedhead because I know that when life is hard, a sweet sleep is a great escape; a sweet sleep means a fresh start -- a rested mind, heart, and soul. I am a bedhead because I believe in this organization, its mission, its purpose and its integrity. I believe in Jen Gash and her hard work. I believe Sweet Sleep is fighting to ensure that thousands of abandoned and orphaned children have the opportunity to wake each morning with strength. And I believe in the future of these children.

Sweet Sleep is doing amazing things. Just $30 a month can make a great impact. That’s a dollar a day saving thousands of lives; preventing hundreds of illnesses; and allowing millions of sweet dreams.

If you are able, join me in becoming a bedhead and helping orphaned and abandoned children around the world sleep sweelty. Just go to www.sweetsleep.org/donate and make your gift of $30 a month or more.

You'll even get a cozy Sweet Sleep tee for signing up.

Ashley Hamm is an entrepreneur who lives on Okaloosa Island in the panhandle of Florida with her husband Clay, who currently serves in the U.S. Air Force. Ashley recently graduated with an International Business degree and now hopes to share her passion about global issues through her writing and lifestyle.

Why I'm a Sweet Sleep bedhead...

Something Sweet Sleep has down to an art is the mission trip. I have been so fortunate to have been a member on several trips with Sweet Sleep over the past two years. With each trip comes a flurry of fundraising as goals are set and beds are provided. What my involvement with Sweet Sleep over these years has also shown me is that flurry of activity is not reserved exclusively for trips.

In 2010, Sweet Sleep provided over 10,000 beds to orphaned and abandoned children in Moldova, Haiti, and Kampala and Gulu, Uganda. Many are unaware that Sweet Sleep continues to work, tirelessly, to provide safe places for children to pray, dream, and sleep. These beds are given with love, education, and the word that God loves the children.

I am good about making gifts at the time of a trip or at year’s end, but what happens through the rest of the year? I became a bedhead in order to ensure the sustained capabilities of Sweet Sleep on an ongoing basis. Having a community of supporters who have committed to give even a small amount on a monthly basis allows Sweet Sleep to budget and plan for ongoing bed placements.

What’s more is that each month when the gift is automatically drafted, we are reminded and reassured that our commitment is serving, protecting, and showing God’s love to a child worlds away.

I would like for you to prayerfully consider how you can be a part of Sweet Sleep’s bedhead program. What can you sacrifice in a month; a night out to dinner, a manicure? With a monthly commitment of $30 or more you, too, will be a bedhead! Don’t forget to mention your shirt size in the comments box so they can send you one of my favorite Sweet Sleep t-shirts!

Giving is simple! Just go to www.sweetsleep.org and indicate that your gift is a monthly gift by clicking the appropriate circle.

I am excited for all God is doing in and through Sweet Sleep! Please consider how He is calling YOU to be involved!

Madelene Metcalf, Nashville, Tennessee

Why I'm a bedhead...

A few years ago, I became familiar with Sweet Sleep at a conference. I never had thought about how children were sleeping. It just broke my heart to think children, especially orphaned and abandoned children, were sleeping in such terrible conditions.

As a preschool minister at my church, I suggested that we give our VBS offering to Sweet Sleep last year - participating in their Build-A-Bed program. Our kids loved it!

Later, our staff was challenged to read "Radical" by David Platt. After reading it, I saw that Sweet Sleep was going to Gulu, Uganda and I felt that I should step out and go. I am so thankful that I was able to join the work of Sweet Sleep. I saw first hand the children that got new Sweet Sleep beds. Seeing how excited they were for a bed was an amazing experience. I even had the privilege of going to a home and setting up their new beds and nets. The children said they could not wait for bed time to come. I don't know many children who are excited about bed time here at home.

After returning from Uganda I wanted to do more. Becoming a bedhead is a simple way to help each month. Every penny counts and helps children sleep sweetly.

Click here to join Alyson and become a bedhead!

Alyson Walker is currently serving as Minister to Families with Preschoolers at South Tulsa Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has led Sweet Sleep's Build-A-Bed and Nickels for Nets Projects in her church, is serving as a Sweet Sleep Regional Rep for her state and is looking forward to going to Cape Town South Africa with Sweet Sleep this November.

Why I'm a bedhead...

It’s easy to get caught in the routine of life. Wake up, go to work, come home, make dinner, go to bed (maybe watch a little TV here and there). I was dabbling around on Facebook one day and ran across the Sweet Sleep Facebook page. Almost immediately, I was reminded of a mission trip I went on to Chisinau, Moldova in 2007. I remembered names, faces, and the emotions that ran high those two short weeks that I was there.

I started reading the Blog and two short hours later, I was in tears over the stories of orphans who were sleeping on infested mats, being swarmed by mosquitoes carrying diseases, I was lost in frustration and sadness. Even worse, I was picturing those amazing children I met a few years ago in that Moldovan orphanage suffering from the same situation. I didn’t know what to do! I prayed hoping God would immediately solve the problem and bring comfort to these kids, but we all know, that’s not how He works. He works through us.

I became a bedhead because I know this team of amazing people are not only providing comfort, but also sharing the gift of Jesus Christ to these kids. As long as I am able, I will be a bedhead, and hopefully one day, I’ll have the privilege and joy to travel back to Moldova, or maybe somewhere new, to share in this ministry. I continue to pray for this team and the orphans that they serve. Praise the Lord for the people at Sweet Sleep!

Click here to become a bedhead.

Travis lives in Nashville, Tennessee and works in promotions at Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing in Franklin, Tennessee. Travis is pictured above on his trip to Moldova in 2007 with kids and translators from the orphanage where he served, Internat #2 in Chisinau. To visit the facebook page that inspired Travis to become a bedhead, visit www.facebook.com/sweetsleep.

be a bedhead with me!

My involvement with Sweet Sleep began a few years back when I was looking for a faith-based organization that would provide mosquito nets to children in Africa. And the more I learned about Sweet Sleep's work with orphaned children, the more I wanted to get involved financially. I became a bedhead because I can't think of anything greater to do with my life than to positively impact the lives of others, in Jesus' name.

As an elementary teacher, I work daily with children, some of whom have much, and some of whom have little. My heart is filled with compassion for children when I think of Jesus' command to care for the poor: the orphans and the widows. And I can't imagine not doing my part to carry out Jesus' command. In my eyes, this command isn't optional. It's imperative.

Sweet Sleep is an organization whose sole mission revolves around Jesus' command to care for the poor and to spread the Good News! And I want to help! I feel honored to be involved in spreading the Good News, while fulfilling tangible needs of children around the world. To whom much is given, much is required.... And its a blessing to do my part!

Join me in becoming a bedhead! It's just $30 a month and you can sign up at www.sweetsleep.org/donate. You'll even get a soft, cozy "I Helped An Orphan Sleep Sweetly" t-shirt for signing up! So join me in helping provide these beds, life-saving mosquito nets, and Bibles to orphans through Sweet Sleep!

Kristen Jackson teaches elementary school in the Pulaski County Special School District. She is married to Jeremy Jackson, a firefighter with the Little Rock Fire Department. Kristen and Jeremy live in Little Rock, Arkansas and have one 7-month-old son, Logan.

A New Look for the Sake of Orphans!

Judy Clanin getting a nice new hairdo by Paulette Catt!

Ohhh the things we do for orphans :)

Amy Draves getting pied in the face by Taylor Morris.

In Amy Draves's 15 years as a Kids Pastor, she's never repeated a mission project.

Until now.

Kids at Wesley Free Methodist Church in Anderson, Indiana attending their Go Fish "Kickin' It Old School" VBS participated in Sweet Sleep's Build-A-Bed Project for the second time this summer. in 2010, these kids collected their largest missions offering to date - $1,000! The kids related so well to kids not having beds, pillows, blankets and Bibles - and they were so willing to help!

After the huge success of Build-A-Bed at their 2010 VBS, Amy decided to support Sweet Sleep with their offerings again - but this year, they wanted to challenge the kids to do even more! If kids earned enough money to purchase 5 complete beds for orphans in Haiti, at $167 each, Amy would get a pie in the face. If they raised enough to provide 7 beds, Judy Clanin, one of their amazing volunteers, would get her hair cut. One volunteer even challenged the adult volunteers to give and matched their gifts one night! On the final day of VBS, funds were tallied and $1,500 was collected for best for orphans! That was enough to provide 9 beds for orphans in Haiti! So you guessed it! Pies were thrown and hair was cut. The pictures above tell the story of leaders so dedicated to helping orphans sleep sweetly, and engaging their kids in meeting the needs of orphans, that they'll lose their locks and get meringue in their eyes!

Thanks Amy and Judy for inspiring kids at Wesley Free Methodist to help orphans sleep sweetly! We're thankful for you and so are the orphans now sleeping sweetly because of you and your sweet kiddos!

You can sign your church up to participate in Build-A-Bed by e-mailing kids@sweetsleep.org. For information about the program, visit www.sweetsleep.org/build-a-bed.

May You Find Rest: A devotional word from Sweet Sleep's Emily Colledge

These days are full. And I can so quickly get out of rhythm. When I’m feeling tired, stressed, weary, or just out-of-sync I hear the voice of my sweet mama in my head, “Get some rest, child.” Or maybe it’s the voice of my Heavenly Father. I know when the Lord is trying to teach me something because it shows up in all sorts of places. Has this happened to you? For me lately, this idea of rest and what that means keeps showing up everywhere. I’ve been reflecting on what it truly means to rest. And the places we find rest. And then I was thinking about the lives of the children impacted by Sweet Sleep. And the rest that comes—for body and soul—through Jesus Christ. I came across Isaiah 30:15 where it says, “…In repentance and REST is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,…” as the Lord was speaking to His children. And of course there’s Matthew 11:28-29. And then, a dear friend sent me a blog post by Rachel Olsen called ‘Laying Me Down to Sleep.’ I want to share it with you today. May you find rest, dear child.

“God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning— the first day.” Genesis 1:5 (NIV)

What time did your day begin today?

Did it begin as the sun poked through the widow urging you to wake? Or, did the alarm buzz at 5:30 AM? Or maybe at 6:45? Perhaps you slept until 8:00?

What if I told you your day began last night as the sun set — would you disagree?

In the modern, westernized world we think of our days as sun rise to sun rise. In other words, we rise, we work, and then we end the day in rest. We rest to recover from our work … with whatever time is left over after the work is done.

However, in the ancient Jewish tradition the day runs from sundown to sundown. That’s quite a different concept. In other words, we rest, then we rise and do our work. Rest becomes the source and fuel for the work rather than merely recovery from it.

Where did the Hebrews get this seemingly backwards notion of the day beginning in the evening? From the God who never sleeps, in the Bible. Notice in today’s key verse — in fact, in multiple verses throughout the Genesis creation account — there was evening, and then morning and that was counted as a day.

A secular rhythm of life makes work primary. We work first, then go from work to vacation. In contrast, a sacred rhythm makes rest primary, moving us from God-ordained rest into our vocation. The sacred rhythm is rest, rise, work rather than rise, work, rest. Let that difference sink in and sway the seat of your soul.

Internalizing this difference is the basis for connecting with God through rest. Pastor and author Eugene Peterson describes this ancient rest-first rhythm:

“This Hebrew evening/morning sequence conditions us to the rhythms of grace. We go to sleep, and God begins his work. As we sleep he develops his covenant. We wake and are called to participate in God’s creative action. We respond in faith, in work. But always grace is previous. Grace is primary. We wake into a world we didn’t make, into a salvation we didn’t earn.

Evening: God begins, without our help, his creative day. Morning: God calls us to enjoy and share and develop the work he initiated. Creation and covenant are sheer grace and there to greet us every morning.”

I don’t know why God’s Word marks out time in this way in Genesis, but I am discovering I think and live differently when I adopt this view of my days. I see each night’s rest as something important, something to prepare for — and something important that prepares me. I’ve long known that rest prepares me physically to rise and work again, and now I’m finding it prepares me spiritually to rise walk in grace and faith.

As I lie down, close my eyes, pray, and slip from consciousness, I do so with the understanding that it is God who holds everything together during my temporary absence from the world. And it’s Him who will continue to hold everything together when I rise and work in the coming daylight. At no point — day or night — am I independent of Him. He even has the power to direct my dreams should He desire.

So I’ve developed a theology of sleep that punctuates my days. It helps me see my nights and my rest as set apart and holy. It helps me to see God as I lay myself down to sleep. In fact, it helps me see that it is He who lays me down for the gracious gift of rest.

What about you? How do you think about rest? How do you treat it? How might God be calling you to look at it differently?

Dear Lord, thank You for rest. Thank You that I can rest while You continue to hold everything together. Help me rest well and worship You through rest. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

(Excerpt taken from: http://devotions.proverbs31.org/2011/07/laying-me-down-to-sleep-2.html)

Emily Colledge currently serves as Assistant to the President at Sweet Sleep. You can learn more about Emily at www.sweetsleep.org in the About Us/Staff section of the site.

Photo of the Day

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.

--Mother Teresa

If we truly lived by this truth, imagine the changes that could happen in these sweet children's lives?

Jesus commands us to love and serve one another, so let's join together and do just that!

Be a part of a Sweet Sleep journey and GO!