I received a letter today that began with "I'm writing to you with urgent news affecting the Phillipines, the country where your sponsored child lives."

Dinner was almost ready. My wife is an amazing gourmet cook who makes even simple dishes like chicken enchiladas taste like Turkish Delight from The Chronicles of Narnia. She had also whipped up an appetizing chip dip made of shrimp, avocado, cilantro and lime juice.

We eat like kings compared to families in many countries. When my kids whine and complain even with such incredible meals set before them, I try to explain to them that there are children in other places of the world who don't even get 3 meals a day. And that the meals they do get are nowhere near the quality of meals that we eat.

In fact, we often spend more on a single restaurant meal than the $32 we send Compassion each month for Ciello, our sponsored child.

The letter continued: "Hundreds of thousands of people are desperately trying to recover from Typhoon Durian, one of many tropical cyclones that have hit the shores of the Philippines, trigering heavy torrential rains, massive flooding and deadly mudslides. The typhoon pummeled the country, washing away villages, destroying homes and injuring thousands. More than 3,000 people are feared dead."

"At this time we know that this disaster has not affected your spondored child. But the flooding and mudslides have directly affected more than 650 Compassion-assisted children and about 3,500 of their family members..."

What's a typhoon? asked my oldest daughter right about then.

I explained how the powerful storm could knock over houses and kill its occupants. My middle daughter was interested now as well.

We went online and donated money to help the victims rebuild their homes. We wrote Ciello a letter and each daughter was able to express their concern, and to ensure him that they were praying for him, and that they were glad he was safe.

I explained once again why we are always so thankful for all that we have, and about the differences in life style - how so little money goes so far in a different country.

And this time I think it started to sink in.