A Timely Title

The blog title that is...

Changes are coming and I am having to daily lean on God and ask him to help me both trust and be joyful.

Small changes, or they seem small today, are coming in our homeschool set-up next year. After YEARS of co-oping (is that how you spell it?) with the same families we are stepping out of PART of co-op. MMH will be working on "Starting Points" with me at home, this is literature rich, but is more focused on knowing what/why you believe, then looking at how that affects what you read, watch, think, and do. We are both excited. Meanwhile Wee One and I will be working in "My Father's World" Creation to Romans. (I think that's the time period.) It means quite a bit more work in one way, but so much more joyful.

A bigger change is that Senior Son is moving back to town to become a "Bobbite"... he will be one of several young men who live with Bob who has CP, and provide all his daily care, including driving, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and "translating" to help Bob communicate with all of us. It's an incredible place to live, and Bob has been such a blessing to so many young men. We are praying that this next year continues to be a good growth time.

One of the biggest changes is that Young Man is going to Lesotho, South Africa to work with MAF for a week or so. Be sure to check out that link. I have spent a bit of time reading about Lesotho and these are things I learned this evening.

• smaller than the state of Maryland
• called "the kingdom in the sky" as it is so mountainous, the lowest point is over 4,500 feet above sea level
• the entire country is surrounded by South Africa, it is a "country within a country"
• 30% of the adult population has AIDS
• 10,000 AIDS orphans live in the mountain villages with little to no medical help
• more than 1/3 of the men have left the country to seek employment
• in 2007 1/5 of the population needed food aid due to drought
• less than 10% of the land is arable
• "Although some 90 percent of Lesotho’s population considers itself Christian, traditionalism and nominal Christianity is widespread with little understanding of the truth of the Gospel. "(see website: http://www.maf.org/lesotho)

All the above info is gathered from the MAF website listed just above. It is a great website with a lot of information about the country. For further information you may visit the following sites:

• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107714.html
• http://www.africaguide.com/country/lesotho/info.htm (interesting weather info)
• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/lt.html
• http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_949.html

So, I would like to ask all of you to be praying for our family and these changes. And, should any of you wish to help support Young Man on his trip please contact me via the blog and I'll get him to send you a support letter. His trip will cost $1,800 roughly and that's a big chunk of change for someone still in college.

Thank you all!
Shalom, Kim