The Beginning of Hoo Hoos

I'm writing to you about a book - a book born out of suffering, a book born from a child's questioning about the big things of life and of God . . .

A few years ago, my husband came down with a mystery illness - no doctor or specialist could figure it out. My husband, children, and I prayed nightly for his healing, but as time passed his symptoms continued to worsen. Eventually he was unable to work, and fell into a deep depression. This illness lasted more than 18 months with no answers or relief in sight. I and my two boys Max and Sam continued to pray in faith.

My oldest son, Max, now a kindegartener, was especially shaken by what he saw. To have your dad be sick was hard enough, but Max was especially disturbed by the seeming ineffectiveness of his prayers! If God would not heal his dad, then Max saw no reason to pray. This book was created to combat this thought pattern, and to instill an attitude of praise into our children.

I brainstormed with a dear Christian friend of ways to encourage the kids to pray and to praise God through difficult times. We had to instill our family's evening quiet time with energy and fun - this book is the result. Every evening we would give our praises - our "Hoo Hoos" to God. I would lead the kids through various attributes of God's nature, which the kids would shout in reply. "You're our King! You're our Lord! You're our Savior! You're our Healer! You're so big! You make me big!" As time went on, the kids began to lead us, and we would shout our reply. Max and Sam would create new praises, and were so excited they would race to be the first to get their praise out. This brought about a wonderful transformation, not just in Max, but in our whole family. It was a great way to end the day. When I was frustrated and tired and didn't feel excited about God, and I have to honestly say, struggled with feelings of doubt regarding God's goodness in my life, doing Hoo Hoos changed my attitude every night. To have to act excited, shout praises, hear and speak the words of truth made all the difference. And besides, who could doubt God's goodness when I saw my two little boys standing up in bed, shaking thier bottoms and waving their arms in a circle over thier heads while shouting praises. Thier excitement was contagious and they were so stinking cute! Anyway, Hoo Hoos made prayer time exciting for the whole family!

Eventually God did lead us to the doctor who was able to make the correct diagnosis. My husband is fully restored to health, but more importantly, my family and I are much more spiritually healthy, thanks to Hoo Hoos. Hoo Hoos have also increased the kids' self-esteem by making them realize that they are given so many magnificent qualities by our creator - so important to children in today's world.

My prayer is that you would look at this book and try it with your family. I hope that Hoo Hoos for God and Jesus would be able to bless many other children and families. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. I hope Hoo Hoos will be a blessing in return.