'Ohana Means Family.......

Can you tell we just recently watched Lilo & Stitch?  I Love that movie.  It teaches such a wonderful lesson about what families are. At the beginning of the movie Lilo's 'ohana consists of herself and her sister Nani. (Their parents died in a car accident). Gradually Stitch becomes the third member of their little "broken" family.  "This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It is little, and broken, but still good..... Yeah, still good. ~~Stitch

By the end of the movie, and in scenes from events which take place after the story ends, you see that their 'ohana consists of quite a few new members including Nani's boyfriend David, the social worker Cobra Bubbles, and even the two aliens who were originally sent to capture Stitch, his creator Jumba and sociologist Pleakley.

The Hawaiian word 'ohana literally means family. The basic concept of a family is a Mother, a Father and their children. But many other types of families exist. 

In Hawaii, the "other" type of family is more the norm than the exception. Many families consist of parents, grandparents and children all residing under one roof. It's not unusual to see a child being raised by a grandparent or aunt while the parents live and work elsewhere. The Hawaiian family or 'ohana can also consist of others not related by birth.

A valued friend can be a member of your 'ohana. An entire group of close friends or associates can be their own 'ohana. The late Hawaiian music superstar Israel Kamakawiwo'ole who recorded "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World" (which is now a very popular song within the adoption community)---often referred to the friends he chatted with on the Net as his "Cyber 'Ohana".

This leads me to one of the areas we are going to start learning about and working on here at our house and in our home-school.  

Love... and what it means to be a family. Each day we will talk about what love is and also what it is not.  

Straight from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.....here is what Love is and isn't:

Got that?  ....ok.....so here it is one more time.....

*Love is patient*  *Love is kind*   *It does not envy*   *It does not boast*   *It is not proud*   *It is not rude*   *It is not self-seeking*   *It is not easily angered*   *It keeps no record of wrongs*   *Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth*   *It always protects*   *Always trusts*  *Always hopes* *Always perseveres*   *Love never fails*   

.......and Family (Love) means nobody gets left behind. 

Or forgotten.

Wishing you 

A house full of sunshine,
Hearts full of cheer,
Love that grows deeper
each day of the year.
~ from an old Welsh blessing

May your 'Ohana be filled with Love...

Wendy

We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.

Those who make their journey home across time & miles,

growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them,

are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's very own hands.--- Kristi Larson

This world is divided into roughly three kinds of nations: those that spend lots of money to keep their weight down; those people who eat to live; and those that don't know where their next meal is coming from. — David Landis, "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations"

SOMETIMES I'D LIKE TO ASK GOD WHY HE ALLOWS POVERTY, FAMINE AND INJUSTICE IN THE WORLD WHEN HE COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT...BUT I'M AFRAID GOD MIGHT ASK ME THE SAME QUESTION. ~ANONYMOUS

This quote just makes me want to get out there and do something to make a difference, to help someone, to put a smile on someone's face, to help make someone's life easier or better...

I am a person of destiny and purpose.
I have been chosen, hand picked by royalty for a job;
trained and possessed by the great King
to complete what I've been called to do.

Nothing else matters.

~David Hogan of Freedom Ministries

"The global HIV/AIDS epidemic is an unprecedented crisis that requires an unprecedented response. In particular it requires solidarity -- between the healthy and the sick, between rich and poor, and above all, between richer and poorer nations. We have 30 million orphans already. How many more do we have to get, to wake up?"-Kofi Annan

"Today somebody is suffering. Today someone is in the street. Today somebody is hungry. Our work is for today. Yesterday has gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today to make Jesus known, loved, served, fed, clothed, sheltered. Do not wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will not have them, if we do not feed them today."
Mother Teresa