The Heymann Family Journal

I get to go (God willing) to a "heart of worship" conference in Winterthur, Switzerland Aug 13-15. Nicole will be coming with me. I signed up to go to a seminar on the Holy Spirit, and another on Prophecy. Nicole will take an art seminar, and another on song writing. I might have room in my car. Anyone else want to go? http://www.schleife.ch/de/veranstaltungen/konferenzen/heart-of-worship.html

I had a very hard time waking up today....no I really mean it! I went to pour my coffee and only got hot water. I had forgotten to put coffee in the pot. The phone rang. Someone needed Juergen's work number. I could not think of it to save my life. They must have thought I was drunk. I don't drink...I was just asleep. So I went to find the phone list and gave the man Juergen's number. Then I smell plastic burning. I thought I had turned the burner off on the stove. What I actually did is turn the back burner on the stove. I had melted the plastic handle on a glass lid of a pot. I could have burned the house down. I drank my coffee, and took my vitamins. I felt like popping one of the ADHD pills my boys take. I didn't do that, but man I was ADD this morning! Not good! The kids begin summer vacation on Thursday. I'll be able to sleep in for 6 weeks. That should help me allot. I'm simply too tired.

I'm thinking about using sea shells as a mulch around my jumbo garden sacks. I'm having trouble with snails. They are also very good for tomatoes because they give the plant calcium. Calcium (or a lack of it) causes the end rot you get on tomatoes. So when we go to Texel, I want to bring back buckets of shells to crush. I may even buy some online. I need allot of shells!

I was having breakfast with a very good friend of mine. We both attend the same church. We both want to preach but it isn’t allowed right now. Our pastor (who is a good man) doesn’t personally believe women should preach. Our church is divided on this subject. I do not push it but it frustrates me. I know many people frustrated because they have spiritual gifts, but find no clear way of using them. Any way, I had an idea today. Perhaps my friend and I could start a women’s ministry to reach our church, and city. I get a word, “ dream”. I would want to meet once every 3 months. We could have good worship, teaching, and prayer in small groups. The goal would be to build women up, help them to dream, support their dreams, and applaud their work. Another serious short coming of our church is it ‘s not good at encouraging the volunteers. I wouldn’t wait for our church to praise what we do, I would create a community that stands behind its people and regularly pats them on the...

I was worried about my parents because I could not reach them for hours. But they are fine. Thank God. I guess I'm fine too. As you can read, I've felt extra stressed over the past month. It helps to be planning a vacation. We leave in about a month. I have a house sitter, just in case you think you can rob my house. Someone will be here! It's been very hot in Germany, but the heat broke and we have some rain. I'm thinking this is a picture of my life. Record heat, stress, dryness. Then something breaks, and we have some relief. God knows what we can handle. What's more, He answers prayer. I have been spending much more time praying for my sons. I am hoping to see His salvation! He loves them more then I do. He places orphans in families…nothing we go through is a surprise to God. This gives me courage and comfort. "Something Beautiful" By Bill Gaither Something beautiful Something good All my confusion He understood All I had to offer hi...

Mom, I have tried to call you over and over...is everything ok?

I have a house sitter for the time we are gone. I didn't even need to call them, they called me. My house will be safe, and my plants well taken care of. I can leave for 2 weeks with out stress!

I have a blog just for our trip to Texel. The address is here... http://heymanns-texel.blogspot.com/

Juergen and I sat down for an hour and booked a vacation house on the North Sea. We will have 2 whole weeks uninterrupted as a family. The beach is cold, but we can dig deep holes in the sand and fly kites. I can even bring our crazy dog! I need to find a house sitter, and someone to water my plants! The house we rented is small, but the vacation complex has indoor/out door swimming, bowling, bungee trampolines, mini golf, and a giant indoor play park. We can ride bikes, and go roller skating too. The price was very good. It is just a small amount compared to Thailand. Maybe I'll still get a new bathroom? What's good is I get a vacation. I know I already had a vacation this year (2 if you count my trip to America). I'm just so tired. My life makes me so tired right now. It's stress! I know my boys are just in a difficult stage. I pray they will grow out of it. But for now I'm grateful for this trip.

Maybe Texel? Texel is an island off the coast of Holland. We took the kids there once before. They have a very nice vacation village with swimming pools and loads of other activities. I couldn't find a house there last week, but this week there are houses half price. So maybe Texel is our answer?

http://www.thai-cookingcourse.com/index.html

Juergen put up a new rain gutter for me. I have 2 new rain barrels too. So now I can catch more free water for my plants. Water is expensive and we have had some pretty hot days. Here are some photos of my garden. It's doing super great! I have spaghetti squash that wants to take over the whole yard. The cucumbers are also doing wonderful! I ate my first ripe tomato, but most of them are still green. I'm very impressed by my jumbo garden sacks. I'm hoping to put 3 or 4 more in next year. Everything does great in these things. As far as Thailand is concerned, I just don't know what to do. It's allot of money, but it's also a pretty good investment in family. We can get by with out it...but perhaps we would be much strengthened by it? I just don't know! I feel like I should wait. Maybe God will say yes, go. Or I'll just see what else we should do. As much as I would love to do it, I feel the answer is wait. I have not heard no, but ...

I have expressed it on my face book page, but not so much on my blog…I am stressed. Our boys are in early puberty. They have issues of respect, and boundaries, being bullied at school, being bullies at home. I don’t want to go into details. They give us stress. We are dealing with it, but it is not so fun. Growing up can be a messy process. At the same time Nicole is preparing for her final year of high school. In Germany they do comprehensive exams . It’s a great deal of stress for her. She must also consider what next. She wants to go to art school. We had thought she would consider biology, but art is her dream. There are art schools near by, but none that do illustration and animation. So we are looking at the possibility of her moving away next summer. That not only makes me sad, but it also involves planning and money. In fact there is tons of planning that has to happen on Nicole’s behalf. Sarah starts school in the fall. Jessica has her final year of school n...

We haven't finished planning and scheduling the remodeling of our bathroom. It needs to be done, but when is the question. Maybe we should put it off another year. The airline prices to Bangkok are very low. We still have lots of vacation time. It's easy to find a good vacation rental. Not many people are traveling to Thailand because of the resent unrest. Nicole will graduate (God willing) next spring. She wants to go to the USA next summer. So we could call it a final whole family trip. We could spend the bathroom money and go to Thailand for 3 weeks. I'm not sure what to do...go and have some very good family time, or stay and invest in my house. The one seems so self indulgent, but the kids grow up so fast. You can not gather them back once they are gone. Bathrooms can always be remodeled.

Main Dish : How To Make Octopus Spanish Style

I take the kids to the movies this afternoon, and then we watch the final of the world cup. It's bitter sweet. I'm glad Germany won last night, and you can not win every time. But they really could have won it all if they didn't get paralyzed by fear. Fear kills me too...I can not let it rob me of my joy! God goes before me and He knows the way!

Here I was minding my own business when all of a sudden life just got so complicated. I don’t think there is enough L’Oreal in the world to cover the gray my boys are giving me.

We are looking at sending Nicole to Jump start Art at Orgon State University if she can get in. here is a video of the program... http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/segments/view/287 and here is a web site... http://oregonstate.edu/dept/arts/jumpstart/ We hope she can get in summer 2011. I guess they only accept a third of the kids that apply. Nicole is a good artist, but doesn't get allot of instruction like American kids do. Most of what she learns is art history.

( from Time) Larissa Riquelme, the captivating lingerie model who enchanted soccer fans around the world with her enthusiastic support of the Paraguayan World Cup team, saw her pledge to run nude through the streets of Paraguay end in heartbreak when Spain defeated her favorite team in the quarterfinals last weekend. The beautiful Paraguayan has good news for her eager fans who were disappointed by the loss. Riquelme says she will run naked through Asuncion, even though Paraguay did not win the World Cup. The curvy model says her nude run "will be a present to all of the players, and for all the people in Paraguay to enjoy." on May 27, 2010 Diego Maradona, the legendary football player and the coach of Argentina National Team which had to fight hard to qualify for the finals of the World Cup has promised to run naked if Argentina lifts the FIFA Football World Cup.

It was sad to watch Germany lose to Spain last night. They seemed paralyzed by fear. I had to talk to the kids this morning. They were so sad. All I could say is Germany is young…and they will be the team to beat going forward. After everyone was gone to school and work , I went to my garden and worked off my sorrow. There is nothing like getting your hand dirty and working up some honest sweat to give you a perspective. I hope Klose breaks the world cup record for most goals scored. We will be cheering for him on Saturday. It’s sad we lost, but I’m so proud of our young team! We will definitely be hungry for the cup in 2014! Spain has never made it to the finals of the world cup. I can imagine the dancing in the streets! My friend Bill Jackson is a missionary in Spain. he e-mailed me. He said he saw more then a few people jumping into the fountains, and honking their horns. Everyone wants to win. Spain just wanted it more! The future belongs to us!!!

We were all so excited to watch Germany take on Spain. I could see how nervous Germany looked at the start of the game. That's never a good sign. Spain way out played us. We only lost by one point, but it was not that close. Spain was much better today! My kids are very sad. I washed the paint off Sarah's face just now. I tried to talk to the boys. Germany has a very young team. They were so exciting to watch in this world cup. We should be very proud of them. I'm sorry they lost, but so proud of our young team. Congratulations Spain. I can imagine the joy you must be having on your streets. We got to experience a small bit of that joy. It felt so good while it lasted!

Germany goes into the semifinals of the World Cup after destroying Diego Maradona's highly-rated Argentina 4-0. Unbelievable! I never ever dreamed such a game. I almost felt sorry for Argentina. Man oh man!!!!

It's 7:30 am on Saturday and I'm awake watering my garden. That's love! I could be sleeping in until 11 am. It will be very hot today , 100F+. Germany plays football today. I'm holding my breath. I hope they win. You have to respect Argentina! They are very good! But Holland beat Brazil, so I am hopeful we can beat our giant too!

Juergen eat breakfast with me outside under our pergola this morning. It was beautiful. It's very hot, so I watered the garden again. Juergen even watered the grape himself. He doesn't often care for plants. It's cute when he does! I also watched videos on you tube about tomato disease. I already have some "end rot" on one of my tomatoes. The tomatoes are growing, but the end of the tomato is brown and rotten. I learned you need to add calcium to the soil. I added some Tomato fertilizer. I may also go get calcium to add. Apart from that, the plants look good. I am taking a few of Philip's friends to the pre teen group at church today. I am also dreaming of a vacation in Thailand. I would almost say forget the new bathroom...lets go to Thailand! I don't know what it is about that place, but I always want to be there! I guess it's the one place we have found everyone in our family loves. And when you have a family of 7 with so many speci...