Heavy Heart for Haiti

Over the past day and a half, like so many others out there I am sure, I have had little on my mind other than Haiti and the devastation that has occured there.  The earthquake on Tuesday claimed the lives of thousands and thousands, and robbed so many more of what little they owned.  Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere, and they lack the political stability and economic infrastructure required to provide prompt relief of the situation.  The Haitian people already have so little, and now many have had those meagre possessions brought to nothing.  This quake not only shook the country of Haiti but also obliterated its capital city, Port-au-Prince, reducing to rubble the Presidential Palace, Parliament, the headquarters of the United Nations as well as several aid centers from Doctors Without Borders.  How can such a country begin to recover from such a blow?  There is so much to be done.
We are extremely thankful to hear of the safety of those directly affiliated with CDIA (Coram Deo International Aid) working in Haiti at the Adoration Christian School.  Although shaken, and having experienced what is no doubt the most terrifying ordeal of their lives, the Lodders, Kim, John and Jim managed to escape without harm.  Besides this, despite a basketball tournament going on at the Adoration School, the school building was destroyed by the quake - and no one was inside.  Through the dust and rubble, we can see the hand of our Almighty God at work in the lives of His children.  In His providential timing, the shaky carport over the yard at the school was removed just two weeks before the quake, perhaps preventing even more serious events from taking place there.
Now that the dust is beginning to settle, though, we can be sure that the situation in Haiti has only just begun.  Heads have been counted, and we are so thankful for the lives that have been spared - however the bodies are piling up and there are so many more lives in jeopardy, hidden under rubble and badly injured.  One of the Adoration teachers is confirmed to be dead, and many more people connected to the school are unaccounted for as of this time.  It is a country filled with despair and great need, and many around the world share their sorrow and grief.  What can we do?  We sit here with heavy hearts, feeling helpless in the face of such devastation, but we are armed with the mighty weapon of PRAYER and we may NOT underestimate it.  Our God is strong, and mighty to save, and He will hear the requests we lay before His throne.  Please pray that He will continue to protect His workers in the field, that they might be a beacon of His light to those in such dire need of it.  Pray especially for the safety of Randy Lodder as he remains in Haiti at the school to protect what assets are left and to gather information about the situation of the teachers and other people involved with the school.  Pray that He will guide the rescue workers in their tasks, giving them strength and courage to do what they need to.  Pray that He will comfort the many who have lost loved ones, and that He will provide relief to those in all types of pain.  Pray that He will work mightily in the government of Haiti, providing as much peace and stability as possible in a time such as this.  Finally, please pray that His Word may go out with renewed force into this impoverished nation through the work of relief workers in His army, and that even through such devastation that many may be turned to the comfort and peace found in Him. 

Photos from the Lodders' blog:  http://randyandkarenlodder.blogspot.com

The basketball court a few weeks ago

Photo from under the recently removed carport

Photos from the CDIA website:  www.cdiacanada.com

[Please visit this site for updates from the team in Haiti]

Destruction at the Adoration School

Maybe I'll Post Once A Month....

All right, all right.  I've searched through the photo archives and I've selected a few to upload... I guess I need to sit down now and write something about the last few weeks!  It's been a busy few weeks (it would kind of be a shock if it wasn't busy I suppose!  I say that every time!).  The Christmas vacation was a blur of get-togethers and Christmas celebrations, and it was good to see family again.

Exciting news over the holidays:  dum de dummmmmmmmm Lauren and Tom got ENGAGED!  Wahoo!  Congratulations you two, and we wish you all the best as you plan your day!  Unfortunately I seem to have a lack of good pictures of the two of you on my computer, so I will have to use this one...

[EDIT:  As I look back over this post for mistakes to fix, I can't help but notice the weird similarity between this picture of Tom and Lauren and the one of Mike and I on the sidebar.... nah, we can't be sisters can we?]

Back to our regular programming...

The kids did fairly well being way out of routine, and generally slept all right despite being in several different places and in several different beds.  They even let us sleep in a few times!  It was a bit of an adjustment coming back home again, especially when Mike went back to school.  Peter is pretty fond of his Daddy and sometimes, Mommy is just NOT good enough.  This, as you can imagine, is not fun for anybody.  He has also become extremely opposed to the nursery over the last month or so... we took him into church with us once in Strathroy to see how that would go.  He made it until just before the sermon started, without being too much of a disturbance.  Besides a few little eruptions of "Praise the Lord!" and "Amen!", he was pretty quiet.  Since then, as bad as it may sound, he hasn't been in church.  Either he or Aaron has been sick since then, so we haven't had to deal with the issue again yet as Mike and I have been taking turns staying home with them.  Aaron has had a cough since just before the holidays started, and it is finally starting to break up a bit.  For a while, he would hardly take a bottle and seemed to throw up everything he ate if he gagged just a tiny bit or if he had a coughing fit.  Not fun!  Then last Monday he woke up with a puffy, boogery eye and when it didn't clear up, I took him in to the doctor.  Drops for Pink Eye seem to have cleared that up, but the poor little guy also got an ear infection.  That seems to be getting better with medication now as well, and I hope everything will go back to normal again soon - normal involving not only a cheerful little 9 month old, but also sleeping through the night. 

Ahhh, I miss that... Aaron's been waking up at 5, 5:30, it was 4:30 this morning, and he's just WIDE awake and not too keen on going back to bed like his Mom is... I might have an easier time with it if I wasn't already up with him four or five times during the night.  Enough complaining!

I decided today that Aaron is no longer in the "not crawling" phase, but has graduated to the "very-beginning-first-stages-of-crawling" phase.  He can haltingly move forward, moving one hand and knee at a time and although it is not too fluid yet and he doesn't get very far, I still think it qualifies as crawling.  Way to go Aaron!  He is getting louder as well, mixing in some shrieks here and there with his "Ba ba ba's" and "Ma ma ma's".  He LOVES his exersaucer, and rocks it so hard that I am afraid he is going to flip it over one of these days.  Perhaps it is nearing the time to put it away - all the better anyways since we are preparing our house for putting on the market.  Yes, for moving!  Although we love our house, we love our yard, and we love our location, a two bedroom house is just not going to last us forever and ever, and we would really love some more room for visitors and for the kids to run around.  Hopefully the whole selling process will go very quickly, as I have to admit I am (more than) a little nervous about keeping the house in tip-top shape for home-viewings.  It's a hard thing to do with two little kids to think about!  We look forward to what the next few months have to bring for us.  Anyways.  On to what you have all been waiting for.  Pictures!

A table shot of the Dekker family Christmas dinner.

That's a lot of people at one looooong table!

Opa and Oma Vander Deen with their 11 great-grandchildren

Dad VD with his two youngest grandchildren

Dad VD and his piggies... I like this picture!

Auntie Lauren being goofy with Peter

Peter Potter that is! Hahaha

Cutie pie...looking a little sick here with his pink eye

But he still loves to cuddle! I'm sure he was smiling just

before this photo was taken :)

Peter just loves to play in the snow... not.  He screams

the whole time he's out there, and if he touches the snow, it's

the end of the world.  Silly kid...

  This is part of his new game:  Garbage Truck.  He brings his little

stool over to the edge of the stove, steps up on it and hangs onto

the rail on the stove door.  Then he gets off and on, being very

careful of the wheels, wherever they may be, calling it his "garbage truck".
Where do kids come up with these ideas anyways?  I think it's hilarious. 

No Worries....

Yes:  Still alive and well
Yes:  Feeling guilty for not posting
No: Ideas on what to post
No: Time to think about it right now