Making Winter Bright

I am SO glad that January is over and am welcoming February with open arms! We DID have some highlights to send the longest month of the year on its merry way...

On Monday, some of our BFF's came to visit. It's so fun to have Camie, Lydia & Clayton just a few hours away so that when we all get sick of our lives we can get together and relive the glory days!

We were happy to see that "cooties" have still not taken over Parker & Lydia. They played the whole time - we barely saw them. Parker, especially, was more sad than I have ever seen him when they left on Tuesday. He said, "I want to stay with Lydia for 20 days!"

It was also very fun to see Tyler & Clayton bond as little buddies for really the first time. Clayton was so cute at asking Tyler to play with him. Here they are sharing the remnants of a treat.

Although I came down ill on Monday night, Camie & I still managed to have fun catching up, watching some Jane Austen, shopping, & taking the kids out for fun. It was great to have a friend who really knows me around, and to take care of me when I was down & out!

The other high point will be a repeat for some of you, but it had to do with what has become known around here as "dissertation drama." For those who are not aware, Peter has been frantically working on trying to gather data for his dissertation (a major research endeavor necessary for his graduation this year - and licensure as a psychologist in the fall!). His project is simply to gather high school-aged students' thoughts, through an anonymous survey, on their expectations of therapy. He's doing this in an effort to dispel misconceptions regarding what happens in therapy, who goes to therapy, etc. and encourage those who need it to take advantage of what is out there! So, a very worthy cause which, unfortunately, many school officials and parents have failed to see and give us an opportunity to gather information. Well, after many failed attempts to get parent consent or to even get into the schools, we finally had a major break last week with two private schools in the area that were willing to let him present the study to their psychology and health students and administer the survey. The total number of students was projected to be around 200 (very near what he needed to complete the study). Many of the students still needed parent consent to actually take the survey and provide the data that Peter needs. We fasted on Sunday and sent out a mass email imploring the faith and prayers of our family members & close friends that the students would take advantage of the opportunity and be sure to get the consent forms to the parents! Also, that the parents would see the opportunity for what it is and give their consent.

Miraculously, he brought home over 200 completed surveys after two days of presentations! Not only that, but he received emails from two other schools that want him to present the surveys to their classes. It is so exciting and has really strengthened our testimonies of the power of prayer & fasting! Now the real dissertation drama begins - data analysis and write-up! Keep those prayers coming!