The Heymann Family Journal

Did I tell you someone stole pumpkins from our yard? We had pumpkins in our yard waiting to be carved, and a paper skeleton hanging up. Halloween is something new to Germany. I like to put some decorations up so the kids know they can come trick or treating at our house. Anyway, on Sunday morning (my birthday) I noticed most my decorations were gone. They didn't take anything with much value, I just hated they took anything at all. I find it very disrespectful. Today is Halloween. The kids have a week of fall vacation. Philip and Thomas were outside playing with two friends. They come to the front door with a plastic bag, and a hair. They think the hair belongs to the pumpkin thief, so they were going to place it in the small plastic bag as evidence. They have been watching Monk DVD's. Then they told me they were going to hunt for more clues. I know they will crack this case wide open!

Jessica is 16 years old and has autism. She can not talk. She is very sweet and we love her very much! A Fall Poem By Jessica Heymann The Fall is eating away at Summer time Leaves' colors are fading Kites are rising all around Children resent the rain Great scary ghostly spook at Halloween frightens children anyway Halfhearted a storm is touching the house no one wants to go outside boldly the forest resists the wind Frau Holle makes the bed(*) in a hurry (*) Grim fairy tale where 'Frau Holle' making the bed causes snow on the earth. A Scary Story By Jessica Heymann When the world was still know for amazing events this story took place. One day two brothers went through the colorfull forest fresh and cheerfully. A cool breeze touched their faces. Surprised they looked around. Silently a black fog moved by them. Dark shapes magically appeared out of the fog. The two brothers were shaking aspen leaves und asked the figures what this would mean. "Today is women's gar...

Juergen and Nicole spent the first part of the weekend visiting his parents. Juergens mom has 3 brain tumors. She is very sick and it is getting really bad. I would appreciate your prayers for this wonderful woman (Waldtrud). They spent some time reading the diary of Juergens dad Richard. He is almost 80 years old, and survived World War 2. Richard’s father stood up agents the Nazis and was murdered for it. His oldest surviving brother (the oldest brother was killed in a farming accident) was sent to Russia and landed in a concentration camp. Richard would have had the responsibility of running the family farm. He prayed for his brother to return from the war so he could go to school (his dream). His brother had the last name Heymann (a Jewish name). A Jewish Dr thought he was Jewish, and she took care of him. She told the authorities he was no use to them, and should be sent home. So by Gods grace the oldest brother of Richard returned home 4 years before the other solders...

Thomas' memory verse was 1Corth 15:4 "that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" Philip learned 1 John 4:14 "the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world"

Tomorrow the kids have AWANA at the Grace Baptist Church. Tomorrow the kids are suppose to dress as their favorite Bible Hero. My boys are just starting to learn the characters in the Bible. Philip knows much more of the Bible then Thomas. I don't think either one of them would say they have a Bible Hero (yet). To be honest, I make them go to church. They don't believe in God yet. I do have hope. I didn't accept Christ as my savior until I was 12 years old. So today I just assigned them Hero's. Thomas is going to dress as Joseph in his multi colored coat, and Philip will go as Jesus. Why these characters? Because the costumes where easy to make! They also need to know who they are dressed like. I spent time with them teaching them something about Joseph and his 11 brothers, and Jesus. I also helped them learn their Bible memory verses. Thomas was so proud. I think he really likes AWANA but is ashamed to go because he never knows his verse. Sarah had an a...

Last night Juergen had a meeting at church to attend. After I got the kids to bed, I listened to a sermon on-line by Derek Prince . The topic was worship. He said his wife Ruth was in a worship service once. She had her hands raised towards God. Her hands suddenly felt really heavy. Derek said to her that is the presence of God, and she should just take it in. When I was in America, I had purchased the material to make a heavy therapy blanket for Jessica. It has these long tubes filled with sand and lead. My Mom sewed the tubes into a blanket that weighs about 16 pounds (7.5 kg). When you are wrapped in this blanket it feels like a warm firm hug. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but eventually you relax and feel very safe in this blanket. Earlier this past summer I had heard Reinhard Bonnke preach live from Africa. It was telecast live on God TV. After he preached he began to pray. I sat at my desk (I was watching this on my computer) and prayed too. I all of a sud...

I am trying to keep in touch with my friends in San Diego. Cindy is OK so far. She sent me this link that has the latest news.

I was listening to Derek Prince preach on tribulation this morning. If you don't know Derek Prince you should try to discover some of his wisdom. He died in 2003 but thank God we have him on video tape. He quoted the book of Revelations, they over came by the blood of the lamb and the power of their testimony. I know that we do not want to hear about persecution or trouble. More and more I hear people that want only blue sky's and green grass. I sense in my spirit we will have trouble ahead. We need to hold fast to what can not be shaken. God is our rock. We as believers should not be shallow and afraid. We should sink our roots deep into God.

Most of you already know this but San Diego is on fire. I use to live in San Diego. Juergen and I were married there. Jessica and Nicole were both born there. My best friend Cindy, and many of my other friends including Donna (more a sister) still live there. I pray God protects the people, and that He helps them in this very hard and scary time! Here is some CNN video of San Diego on fire.

I've spent so much of the past year, and much of 2006 just rushing. I had my heart and mind fixed of adopting Sarah. First it was the paper work, then the wait, the trip, the really hard adjustment, then the trip to the USA. Sarah is finally settling in. She goes to kindergarten. I have most of my mornings free again. I had quit most everything for a season. My schedule is very empty. I'm asking myself what next? There are many ways I could fill up the hours. I could just get busy again. I really do not want to do that. I feel like I'm at a cross road. I am so hungry for God. I don't even want to see people...I just want to be alone. I want God to tell me what is next. I turn 46 years old on Sunday. That isn't super old, but it isn't young either. I heard in the Psalms last night that a normal person has 70 years, maybe 80. I think realistically I've got only 20-30 years of good influence left the Lord willing (I can not be sure of one mor...

Researchers suggest that parents contact the school when a child expresses having difficulty with students or with a teacher and help them find a viable solution. They suggest that parents help young children develop social skills and make new friends. They say that even one good friend can protect a child from loneliness; depression, feeling rejected, or victimized. This may be especially important to know when adopting children, who are older than newborn, from an orphanage or foster care situation. These children frequently have issues that make them the ostracized child. The whole post is HERE .

How to Improve Reading Skills in Children with ADHD or Learning Disabilities

It's been an emotional week. My beautiful and 100% lovely niece Lisa and her husband Nate lost their first child. His name was Isaac and he was still born. I'm very sorry for their loss, the loss of my dear sisters first grand child. I'm sorry for the whole family. My brother is also facing a very hard time in his family. I will not communicate the details, but I'm very sorry for his pain. On the good side, Philip celebrated his 9Th birthday. He wanted to go shopping at toys are us. I gave him some money, and he ended up only spending a small amount on himself. He gave some of the money to Thomas and some to Sarah. He drives me crazy often, but he often makes me very proud. There is a noble character under all that "boy"! Juergen and I went out to breakfast this morning. We were celebrating our 17Th wedding anniversary (just 2 weeks late). I would make you sick if I began to write about how much I love this man of mine! I could not thank God ...

Staph fatalities may exceed AIDS deaths More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from a drug-resistant staph "superbug," the government reported in its first overall estimate of invasive disease caused by the germ. Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the new study. Tuesdays report shows just how far one form of the staph germ has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting. The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people. That's an "astounding" figure, said an editorial in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study. Most drug-resistant staph cases are mild skin infections. But this study focused on invasive infections — those that enter the bloodstream or destroy flesh and can turn deadly. Researchers found that only about one-quarter involved hospitalized patients. However, more than...

I had to pick Sarah up from kindergarten, then Philip from school, then Jessica from school. I have 5 kids and they all go to a different school! Everything was going well. Sarah was playing nicely with a toy. Philip kept trying to steal the toy. I warned Philip to leave Sarah alone. He would not listen. Sarah hit him hard with the toy. I took the toy away. Sarah then screams at the top of her lungs for the next 15 Min's home. I could not give the toy back because she can not hit other kids with toys. Philip has this winning smile on his face. He is so happy to get Sarah into trouble. I sat Philip down, and gave him a good tongue lashing. Then I sent him to his room, finally I took away his TV time. He has been starting allot of fights lately. He thinks it is so fun to push Thomas and Sarah, and get them into trouble. Not anymore! If you start it, you are in as much trouble as the one who finishes it! I need an Aspirin!

I'm home from the USA and I'm very, VERY tired. I can hardly think or function. As they say, the show must go on. With 5 kids that means getting them off to school, cooking, cleaning, homework, and swimming lessons. Sarah is not so fun to be around. She is also tired and will not nap. Philip is also tired, but he doesn't get so ugly when he is tired. Sarah gets ugly! I'm still very unhappy about Philips school situation. They are going so slow in his class it's making him lazy. He even begins to act stupid...like he can not do anything! He isn't stupid. This is driving me crazy! Most of the kids in his class are even slower then Philip. I think they need to push him to the next grade up. Please pray for this situation. He needs to learn, not just get really bad baby sitting!