January Update

Josiah has taken up art with his first crayon composition and the fingerpainting shown below. He is now taking several steps at a time, but still figuring out balance while walking. He just got his 3rd tooth and some of his favorite words (sign language) are airplane, lion, fish, bird, more, all done, book, drink, cracker, please, and thank you. He is a little fireball of energy.



Mary's art has transformed into recognizable objects. It has been fun to watch her blossom and she has so much fun being creative! Below is a photo of us enjoying snow ice-cream and hot cocoa. She loves puzzles and games. One of her favorites is to play hide and seek in the dark with a flashlight. She is such a joy.



Our family was blessed with a new member in December! Here is a photo of our new niece Alissa Anne and proud big brother David.



Finally, we are moving soon. Aaron has accepted an operations manager position with Amazon.com in Phoenix. This was not an easy decision and we are grateful for the support we have received from everyone. We are excited for the season ahead, but we are in no hurry to rush these last few weeks as we spend time with friends and family while getting ready to make the transition.

Child Sexual Abuse

I attended a seminar called "Smart Kids, Safe Bodies" today. The speaker, Jon Holsten, is a police sergeant and former child sex crimes investigator. He did an excellent job explaining the prevalence of child sex crimes and advising on ways to talk to children about it. He also offered suggestions to avoid potentially harmful situations, discussed indicators of abuse, and issued a call to action with a message of hope for everyone.

I will provide links for more detailed information at the end and just touch on a few pieces of information I gleaned. I pray it will be valuable to you.

• First, studies show 1 out of every 3 or 4 girls and 1 out of every 6 boys will be sexually abused by the time they are 18. Also, 67% of all sex crimes involve child victims. Such statistics make me sick and angry, but we must realize what is going on in our society in order to protect children.
• Second, just as we use car seats, helmets, and teach them how to cross the street safely, we must make a point to teach them about appropriate touch and what to do if the unthinkable happens (no matter how uncomfortable it may be to talk about!)
  
• Jon informed us that you can access a listing on sex offenders at your local law enforcement agency. Not all offenders are required to be registered online.
  
• One of his final points was that we need to be praying for families and individuals that have been victimized whether we know who they are or not. Pray that they would know that there is hope for healing and that they would take the difficult step of telling someone what happened in order to begin the healing process.
  

Jon authored a book called "The Swimsuit Lesson" to help parents discuss appropriate and inappropriate touch as well as what to do if those boundaries are violated.

Here is a link to his website: http://www.theswimsuitlesson.com/
Here is an article he wrote for Focus on the Family: Talking to Your Kids About Sexual Abuse

May God give you the vision and strength to do with this what He wills,
Sarah