Priceless

*This is a tough post*

I love how God uses story to help open our eyes and draw us closer to Him. Two incredible books released this year that tackled an increasingly horrendous problem:
Sex Trafficking

Some knew nothing about this awful subject, some may have known but turned a blind eye to it - "it's not happening around me, so I can ignore it", some are caught in the midst of it.

I'm going to give you some terrifying stats:

-1.2 million children are trafficked every year; this is in addition to the millions already held captive by trafficking (1)
-Every 2 minutes a child is being prepared for sexual exploitation (1)
-The average victim is forced to have sex up to 40 times a day (5)
-The average age of a trafficked victim is 14 years old (5)
-Approximately 30 million children have lost their childhood through sexual exploitation over the past 30 years (1)
-Sex trafficking is an engine of the global AIDS epidemic (4)
-People are trafficked from 127 countries to be exploited in 137 countries (3)
-Between 14,500 and 17,500 victims are trafficked into the USA each year (4)
-The total market value of illicit Sex Trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion (2)
-By 2010 Sex Trafficking will be the number one crime worldwide (5)
-Trafficking in women is the second largest global organized crime today
-Over 25% of victims are trafficked from Southern and Eastern Europe.
-Tragically, only 1-2 percent of victims are rescued, and only 1 in 100,000 Europeans involved in trafficking are convicted.
(1-UNICEF, 2-UN, 3-UNODC, 4-US Department of State, 5-The A21 Campaign)

We cannot turn away from this. A lot of people are discussing the problem of Pornography, and yes, pornography is rampant in the world, but this problem is even greater. Pornography feeds this industry. Can you imagine your own child being abducted and sold into sex slavery?

Since reading Priceless by Tom Davis, and Deliver Us From Evil by Robin Caroll, I've been seriously praying about what I can do. What can you do?

If you like to read - Please buy the two books mentioned above. The stories will grip you and bring to life this epic problem. They are both powerful and beautifully written. I'd also recommend you check out Tom Davis's different sites. Tom is the CEO of Children's Hope Chest. Below are other links for you to check out (PLEASE, PLEASE go and read their stories - you will never be the same)

www.sheispriceless.com
www.love146.org
www.iempathize.org
www.hopechest.org
www.notforsalecampaign.org
www.globalcenturion.org

On a personal note, I know both of these authors. They have touched my life in huge ways. This is not just about selling books... this is about changing a life. One at a time. Please pray about how you can help.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!

Kayla has been chosen as a staff writer for iBegat.com a new site for teens!!

This is launch week at iBegat - so please check out the links below and tell all your friends!

iBegat Home Page
Devo by Kayla
Staff Writer Kayla Woodhouse
Movie Review by Kayla

The Big 4-0 (not me!) and a Little More News...

Today is my husband's 40th birthday. Shhh! Don't tell him I told you ;)
I want to wish a very, very, happy birthday to my sweet man! And also to my dad - they share the same birthday. Although, Dad probably doesn't want me sharing his age... :)

Today's blog is just a quick reminder about the other blogs:
Kim and Kayla
Dragon Claws, Dog Paws, Swimming Laws...

The fan page (if you're not a fan, we'd love for you to join!)
Facebook Fan Page

AND... be watching for a big announcement on Kayla's blog tomorrow (Thursday)!
Kayla's Blog

Another Year... Another Reminder

So, another year has passed, and I am getting older. I don't mind, although I often wonder where the time has gone, and why has it gone so quickly.

Anyway, my birthday was this past weekend and I can't help but remember a comment my son made a couple years ago.

It was the year I turned thirty-three. We had been having a fun, together-at-home day. Late in the afternoon, my son all-of-a-sudden gasped REALLY LOUD...

"Mom!" He exclaimed, with a look on his face that told he had a great revelation.

"What, Honey?" I just knew it was something sweet and profound. It was my birthday, right?

And without missing a beat, he informed me, "You're as old as Jesus was when He died!"

Let's just say that everyone else there laughed. Hard.

I attempted to keep a straight face and looked at my loving boy, Josh. "Wow. I hadn't thought of that. And I'm so proud of you for remembering how old Jesus was when He was crucified, and then rose again. Thank you for telling me."

My husband, Jeremy, (after he picked himself off the floor from laughing) tousled our sweet boy's hair and Josh ran off to build something with legos, I'm sure. Jeremy smiled, "Out of the mouths of babes, huh?"

We laughed, and we have laughed about it ever since, but it has also made me think. Josh did say something very profound that day.

Jesus lived such a short life here on earth and yet, accomplished so much. And He was perfect. Sinless. Never made a mistake. As believers, we are supposed to be striving to be like Him. So, on that day of my thirty-third birthday, my son reminded me of what I should be working toward. These precious years we've been given in this life are not about us. And in our society of "Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!" lives are lived selfishly but does it help us in any way?

My questions for today are not easy. What are you living for? WHO are you living for? What have you done with your life? It doesn't matter if you are sixteen or sixty - these questions still apply to you. Are you caught up in the day-to-day stress and forget the end goal? Are you running toward that finish line? Where is your focus? Do you get distracted and take little side trails?

I wrote a post a while ago entitled, "Running... Out of Time"
I've updated it a little and am reposting it. I think we all need the reminder.

"Running... Out of Time"
I'm always amazed at how time flies! Our beautiful daughter had brain surgery almost FOUR years ago; it feels like it was just yesterday, and it also feels like a lifetime has passed since then. Where did the time go? My kids were babies just yesterday . . . weren't they? And now I have two teenagers!

My title for this was: Running . . . out of time. Aren't we all running? Shouldn't we be running? Hebrews 12:1-3 says this, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart." (NASB)

So yes, I'm running. And I'm running out of time - we ALL are. I'm running the race set before me and as the enemy tries to steal my time (especially my writing time, it seems) I'm going to keep ON running. How many more people will God place in my path? I don't know - because I don't know how much time I have left -- but I DO know that He wants me - and all of us - to be lights for Him, use the gifts that He has given us, and keep running the race.

Throw off those encumbrances, get rid of that sin, fix your eyes on Jesus and let's run with whatever amount of time we have left.

***This is a revised version of a post I wrote a couple of years ago***

The Scoop...

Kim and Kayla here...

Here's the new scoop:

As we have worked on our schedules, re-vised, re-grouped, re-focused, re-assessed, re-rested, re-confuzzled, and totally turned everything upside down with all this "re" business, we've come up with a new schedule to try and simplify things.

With the craziness of our lives, we want to share it all with you (isn't that nice of us?) and still be able to maintain our writing, schooling, swimming, speaking, teaching, and everything else in between. :)

So here it is:

Tuesday - will be a post on our blog together at - KimberleyandKaylaWoodhouse.com
(One week Kim will post, the next week Kayla will post and so on...)

Wednesday - will be a post on Kim's blog posted at - KimberleyWoodhouse.com click on the blog tab this blog is also posted at
KimberleyWoodhouse and KimberleyWrites

Thursday - will be a post on Kayla's blog for kids at - Dragon Claws, Dog Paws, Swimming Laws...

As always we love to hear from all of you and look forward to sharing all the great things going on!