Haiti

As a young girl in Good News Club, I would sit mesmerized by the story of Ti-Fam. It is a true story of a girl in Haiti. Her father was a witch doctor and taught Ti-Fam to fear the "lies" of the Christians and his use of voodoo. Despite her fear, she and her mother listened to the missionary when they traveled to Port-Au-Prince. To hear that an all-powerful God loved her caused Ti-Fam to question her father's vindictive religion. Ti-Fam eventually accepted Christ after events, including a hurricane , led her to stay at the mission school. God interceded for her in miraculous ways and eventually she was able to share God's love with her father.

Last year I had the privilege of teaching this story to kids in Good News Club and once again my heart went out to the people of Haiti.

Unfortunately, I don't have cable now, so have not been able to follow the story of the earthquake as closely as I would like to, but my heart is breaking for these people! It's funny that as I was sending an e-mail to my sister about the mission's efforts during this crisis, she too was busy blogging about her memories and thoughts on Haiti. She quoted Joel Rosenberg: "Scriptures tell us in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 that terrible earthquakes and other natural disasters will occur in the “last days”….things will get worse, but this is a catastrophe of biblical proportions….may followers of Jesus Christ respond with prayer and practical assistance."

Right now, my family is short on funds, but I am planning even now how to help. This may become a family and homeschooling endeavor to aid the actual mission that I learned about as a young girl. If I am able, I will be blogging about that effort and I ask you to follow along and perhaps help. Please pray for the people in Haiti. Pray for wisdom and strength for the missionaries that are there. Pray for God's peace to overtake the chaos. Pray that through this, God will be known.

I highly recommend that you spend some time this holiday season watching this video on Youtube.com. There are 5 videos to complete the talk by Louis Giglio on How Great is Our God.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKMw1ndl-EY

The Language of Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Dr. Emerson Eggerichs' book is based upon the verse Ephesians 5:33 : "However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." He writes that wives hear and see in pink (the language of love) and husbands see and hear in blue (language of respect). He states that couples are sending each other messages in 'code' and they won't be able to crack that code until they learn to listen in their spouse's language. The book gives ample examples on how to crack the code and improve communication in a marriage.

I really wanted to like this book but was very disappointed. There are some truths hidden in the book but you have to dig through a lot to get to them. I found the book to be VERY repetitive and tedious. His use of acronyms was excessive and annoying. Dr. Eggerich began referring to his first book "Love and Respect" quite often which felt more like an ad trying to sell that book rather than an attempt to teach. The book might be good for a young couple who have not received any teaching on this subject, if they can wade through it, but I think there are probably better books out there on this subject. This book could have easily been cut in half (or more!) and then would have been much more effective in keep the reader's attention. http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

The Little Engine that could

I haven't blogged in a long while. Man! what have I missed? I didn't blog about Nathan's birthday, Sarah's birthday, Benjamin's birthday, Easter, Summer, shoot, I even have pictures still in my camera from last winter that were never posted! Guess I'd better get with it! Maybe I should learn how to download all those photos.... I'm like that well known little engine. I think I can, I think I can...

I have enrolled to be a book reviewer, so if I'm approved, you'll be seeing some book reviews on here as well. I hope I make it - it sounds really interesting. I think I can, I think I can.....

I've been helping my mother-in-law in dealing with Alzheimer's, so you'll probably see some of my struggles as we deal with that disease and how to handle her situation. I think I can, I think I can....

I'm still homeschooling, so maybe I'll blog more about that. Friendly Fridays need to be started back up. I really want to teach my kids to reach out to others. Maybe we'll limit it to once a month just so it isn't so intimidating. I think I can, I think I can...

I'm teaching a children's Bible class on Tuesdays after school and helping with one on Mondays. We've had quite a bit of drama lately, so surely I'll blog some about that. I think I can, I think I can....

God's been working on me and my "ability" to manipulate, so I could share a little about what I'm leaning. I think I can, I think I can....

With the holidays just around the corner, it's a perfect time to get started.... I THINK I CAN!

I WON!!!

I NEVER win anything...until now! I won the book "The Reluctant Cowgirl" by Christine Lynxwiler from Cathy Bryant at WordVessel.
Hip-Hip-Horray!!!
Cathy is the author of the book "Texas Roads". You can read the first chapter of her book here. Mark led me to her site (she was in the Wayland band with him), and I've enjoyed reading her blog the last couple of weeks. She is also the proud grandmother of a new grandson, Harrison. (congratulations, Cathy!)
Thank you, Cathy, for the book. I'm looking forward to reading it and your book as well!

Update

Sarah's MRI has been moved to Monday due to the weather. It will be on Monday @ 2 p.m.
We'd appreciate your prayers!

Science

Homeschoolers! I just found this site and thought I'd share it. It has a big list of simple science experiments to use. I haven't looked at the entire site, but it looks like it might have lots of good things for teaching science principles. http://www.sciencefairadventure.com/Default.aspx

Give-Me-More Barbecued Ribs

Becky gave me a "Fix-It and Forget-It" cookbook for Christmas. We've been taking turns choosing a recipe to make and tonight was Aaron's night. The results were a LOT better than I expected (I'd have never thought to cook ribs in a crock pot!). They were called Give-Me-More Barbecued Ribs, and since I found a package of ribs at 40% off, we tried them out. :-)

Makes: 6 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 8-10 hours

Ideal slow cooker size: 6 quart

4 lbs. pork ribs

1/2 cup brown sugar

12-oz. jar chili sauce

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. hot sauce

1. Place ribs in slow cooker

2. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour half of sauce over ribs.

3. Cover. Cook on low 8 - 10 hours.

4. Serve with remaining sauce.

I used plain mustard because that's what I had, and I used more hot sauce. Also, our ribs were tender and meat literally falling off the bone after 6 hours, so 8 to 10 hours may be too long. This was good, but you could just as easily use a bottle of your favorite Barbecue sauce.

Can you believe...

...Scott is 18?!!? His birthday was the 13th, I'm just slow at posting this month. While I was in labor the nurses kept telling me that if I'd wait a couple of hours he'd be a Valentine baby. (easy for them to say!!)However, I knew that boys wouldn't want heart themed birthdays every year, so I spared him the pain of pink hearts and me the pain of waiting. Of course I didn't know he was a boy yet....but it all worked out-right?
He hates having his picture made, so I spared him that pain as well and used one from China. I still want to know what that shocked look was all about! His big plans for his birthday this year included a tattoo, but that hasn't happened yet and I'm waiting with bated breath to see what transpires.
Scott you are a son any parent would be proud of. You have a servant's heart, willing to help in almost any situation, you're giving and caring. You've carried the names of your grandfathers with an integrity that would make them proud! I love you and am praying for God's richest blessings in your life as you step into new experiences this year. I am excited to see what God has in store for you! I love you. Happy Birthday!

computer problems

The charger on my laptop isn't working and my battery is down to 47%. So, I may not be able to get on for awhile......I'll miss you!