Can't Comprehend

When I think about living in a slum.....I can't comprehend it.
When I try to imagine watching everything around me crumble.....I can't comprehend it.
When I think about my child being hurt but there is no Dr. to take them to.....I can't comprehend it.
When I think about hundreds of orphans sleeping outside in a field.....I can't comprehend it.
When I think about the need to wear a mask to try to alleviate the stench of death.....I can't comprehend it.
When I think of a body of my loved one being dumped into a mass grave and never knowing what happened to them.....I can't comprehend it.
When I think about how desperate I would need to be to consider leaving two of my children behind to save one.....I can't comprehend it.
When my 9 year old can't comprehend how God would allow tens of thousands of people to die and all the above mentioned occur.....I can't explain it.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

The people of Haiti have constantly been on our minds and our hearts these past couple of days. Although I really felt a lack of words to answers B's questions a couple of days ago I'm so grateful I have God's Word to find those answers.

Here is a link of an outreach in Haiti that desperately needs funding so they can continue to help the people of Haiti in this time of great need.
heartlineministries.org
You can also purchase Help Haiti Shirts and the proceeds also go towards this outreach along with another one.
http://helphaitishirt.com

Counting Down

The kids and I are counting down the Fridays until Co-op starts again. The kids love co-op and they miss it extremely during our long break between semesters. B especially. He misses his friends and since we live a distance from them having them over takes a little more planning. The snow hasn't helped that. Here are some pictures from the fall program I never posted.

B showing off his signing skills. My kids love learning sign language. Our co-op was blessed with a college level sign language teacher and B really enjoyed it. He was the only boy in the elementary class. Maybe that's why he likes sign language so much?

Here is the full gang reciting their Bible verses. We memorized Psalm 103:1-11. It made my heart happy when I saw how many kids earned their $5 Culver's gift Certificate because they could recite with little help. I helped test the preschool age and I had three of them who earned it. That is 3 and 4 year olds!!! B and L both earned their awards and I was so proud of them.

So on this Friday we are counting down the weeks until we get to learn with our friends again.

Goals for 2010: Reading

So I have many goals for 2010 and will be posting on them throughout the week. My first goal is not only to do more Bible reading but also more recreational/learning reading as well. I did fairly well last year with 6 books. Now to you avid readers this is a rather pathetic number but for this VERY busy and tired mama I think it was a great accomplishment. I have a list of 14 books I would like to read in 2010. I figured one a month was an attainable goal if I really try. So 14 will be pushing me a little. Some of the books J and I will be reading together. Yes, we have been reading Family Driven Faith for about 8 months now but I'm determined to finish it by the end of this week. Finding time to read for me is hard but finding an extra couple of minutes to read with J seems nearly impossible. We'll be working on that. Here is my 2010 book list.



1. Ten P's in the Pod

2. Family Driven Faith(with J)

3. Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others

4. The hidden Art of Homemaking

5. When You Rise Up: A covenantal approach to homeschooling

6. Permission Granted to do Church Different in the 21st Century(with J)

7. Mark of the Lion: A voice in the wind

8. Mark of the Lion: an echo in the darkness

9. Mark of the Lion: as sure as the dawn

10. The Mother at Home

11. The Family Integrated Church(with J)

12. Be Fruitful and Multiply(with J)

13. Beloved Bride: The letters of Stonewall Jackson to his wife.

14. Marriage to a Difficult Man: The uncommon union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards



I have the book list in the sidebar of this blog so I can easily reference it and so it's there staring me in the face to remind me of my goal. Sometimes I need that.

Holiday Happenings a.k.a. Longest Post Ever

So like I said in the previous post, this past three weeks has been packed full. In the last three weeks we've had over 35 different guests and many of those have been here multiple time. It's been a fun holiday season. So because I don't want to take the next month to catch up on blogging I'm going to sum up our holiday season in one post.

We started with celebrating Hanukkah.

The kids had their choir concert.

It was fabulous as always.

Nerf wars were continuous.

As soon as there was enough snow on the ground all the O family were out on the sledding hill.

B enjoyed some snowboarding.

Just because you're not even one doesn't mean you stay inside and miss out on sledding.

There was much Christmas crafting going on.

There were many messes to clean up.

There were stockings stuffed.

Gum to be chewed.

Gifts to give.

And gifts to receive.

There were babies......

.....babies.....

.....and more babies.

There was napping going on and a little climbing too.

New video games to be played.

Oh and since we had a free day we headed to the AirZoo for a field trip.

H even went on a few of the rides.

The kids got to sit in a fighter jet.

B loved looking at all the war memorabilia.

We had a nice and relaxing New Years with appetizers, board games, Wii playing, movie watching, and gingerbread house making.

Now it's on to 2010!!!!!