Week in Review {2013, Week 3}

January 18, 2013 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

It’s been a quiet week here. My brain felt as if it were wrapped in a thick blanket and my thoughts just felt all jumbled and non-sensical. My attitude and behavior kind of betrayed that, as well. So I have tried to stay quiet.

As we come to the end of the week and a couple days of warmer weather and sun have cleared my head a bit, I recognize the battle I am fighting with being content and finding joy where I am right now. Discontentment tells me all the ways I would be happier if …. God’s word says “godliness with contentment is great gain.”

I don’t always enjoy being a home school mom and finding contentment there has been an on-going struggle. I don’t think saying that makes me a bad home schooling mom. I think saying that makes me honest. I love my kids and I’m very happy with how they are learning and progressing in school, so that’s not the issue. I love being at home with them and the wonderful time we are able to spend together. It’s just that they’re always here. Always. So sending my kids off to school every day and having hours at a time to myself? That sounds so luxurious! But that’s not where God has me. And I’m sure that’s not where God has me on purpose, because of the countless ways He uses my constant exposure to these human chisels to shape me – to make me more gracious, more patient, more selfless, and more like His Son. I really wish relaxing on the beach could somehow have the same effect….

So if our educational options aren’t changing anytime soon (which they aren’t, because I still have a TON to learn about patience and selflessness), the only other option is to learn contentment. And there’s really no fast track on that road, either. It seems to be a matter of continuing to constantly say thanks, to see all as grace, to not consider my blessings burdens, and to continue to follow hard after the One who is perfecting each of us, day by day. If I seek to be filled up by this job of home schooling, I’m going to be disappointed every time, because really it’s a daily emptying out, like much of mothering, and these kids aren’t responsible for filling up my empty places. Only God can do that and He didn’t give us home schooling for that purpose. He gave us home schooling to reveal how desperately we all need His grace and mercy every day and how empty we all really are without more and more of Him.

In other news, we received word this week that Amania’s passport is “in process”. We are tentatively hopeful that we will have that in the next month or so, then it’s on to the US Embassy and her Visa. So, maybe, maybe???, home this summer? We’ll see.

School has taken until bedtime (or close to it) for the second week in a row for the younger two. God bless them for their perseverance and sticking with it, but this has to change. It’s a little ridiculous. I’m praying through how to make things work and have some ideas, so we’ll see how next week goes. We’ve gone from having too much free time on school days to having zero free time. Surely there’s a balance in there somewhere?!

Emma’s having a couple of friends over tonight to (finally) celebrate her birthday (early December). She’s kind to understand that her mama can’t handle birthday parties in the midst of Christmas craziness, so she always gets to wait until January.

Speaking of Emma, I’m pretty sure she and all her sisters are about to grow a lot. All I hear about (or so it seems) is how hungry everyone is. All.the.time. And as a non-foodie-type, constant requests for food wear me out pretty fast. Today, after being snapped at by a child who was apparently starving to death (and I was doing nothing about it!), I decided to come up with a paraphrase on Ephesians 4:26, “Be hungry and do not sin…” It may also work for dieting husbands, but I wouldn’t know anything about that. 😉

And speaking of husbands, my very wise and wonderful man realized this week that this mama needs a little break, so he’s whisking me away for a quick overnight, some quantity quality time, and to finally see Les Miserables (woot!). He’s definitely a keeper.

That’s the update around here. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! May all that you do draw you closer to God and those you love.

For His Glory ~

Week in Review {2013, Week 2}

January 12, 2013January 17, 2013 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

We come to the end of another week and I find that we’ve made it through that tremulous first week back to balancing school and life.

I practiced peace while wrestling testy appliances and a messy house.

We found our way through some new curriculum and found that the second grader absolutely LOVES it. After a few days of doing school from breakfast until bedtime (not exaggerating!), we found a little bit of rhythm and were done by dinnertime. Now if I can get a certain child to stop disappearing between classes, we could have something close to a normal school day.

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All week we walk a dark road with a daughter who wants to choose her own path and we continue to learn what it is to pray and beg mercy and be humbled because we really have no clue what we’re doing in this parenting thing and by the time we think we’ve figured something out everything changes.

We pass another week with no word of movement in Haiti while on Facebook I see an acquaintance post pictures of their Haitian children at home. An acquaintance we met standing in line nearly a year ago at the embassy in Port-au-Prince both waiting for our I-600 appointment. I marvel at how their kids are home and will myself to say the Lord’s ways are higher and His timing is perfect. Because I am done with this being “pregnant” and there are no old wives tales to test to start labor. I must simply wait. And I’m reminded as I do of some of the wisest adoption words I’ve heard so far, and we heard them early on in this….”Respect the process.” No amount of grumbling or being impatient or thinking how this or that could be done better will change the adoption process in Haiti, at least not right now. My safest and most peaceful place is to trust God and respect the process.

Last night we celebrated the new year with our Sunday school class and as I crawled into bed at nearly 1 am, I prayed thanks to Jesus for the community He has been quietly building around us this past year in our own church, a place where we had felt painfully disconnected for many months. We are blessed.

I realize today it’s been three years since the earthquake, since Haiti appeared to almost fall in on itself. Three years since we watched unimaginable images on television screens and prayed for our own loved ones and friends to come home safe. It’s been three years since we felt compelled to move, to act, to be involved. Three years since a massive community-wide sale that really was the beginning of our involvement in ministry in Haiti. And I sit and reflect on all the mighty ways God has moved in just three years and I am amazed and how can I not worship and praise His name, for He has done good things.

For His Glory ~

Old Habits, New Year

January 7, 2013 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

We stumble through this first Monday…first of the year, first of the semester. We muddle through new curriculum and remember old routines. We re-learn how to get up “early” and how to carry and borrow and divide numbers out long. And I struggle to keep my balance as the house whirls with activity and questions and paper trails that would make some auditor proud. I forget to put the potatoes in the oven to bake and lunch doesn’t get served until 1:30. Children are still doing school at 5:05 and the oldest and I finally start dinner at twenty til 6. But we did it…we survived the first day of the second semester. We got over that Monday “hump” and it’s all downhill from here, right?

And as we get back into routines and welcome back something resembling a schedule, I get back to listing the gifts (how long has it been?!) because He deserves our praise no matter how life spins us ’round and because peace comes in giving thanks, in opening our eyes to all He has already given, already done, and opening our hearts to hope of all He is still doing.

2294. Barbies strewn everywhere

2295. blankets laying about

2296. signs of a house full of life

2297. children doing kind things – just because

2298. stomach issues and another day of not running

2299. books discussions with a good friend

2300. Christmas gifts picked up here and there

2301. my second-born – now eleven

2302. a good week

2303. cloudy, overcast days – looks like winter

2304. littlest one beginning to feel better

2305. quiet Sunday morning, home with two sickies

2306. snuggles from my Chandler

2307. winter weather

2308. movies as a family

2309. single digits and snuggling under blankets

2310. the sparkle of Christmas lights

2311. shooting stars on a morning walk

2312. hearing nothing from Haiti

2313. cough medicine for weary girls

2314. end of the week, end of the semester

2315. happy vacuumed floors

2316. oreo truffles

2317. fingerprints re-taken

2318. a day of Christmas shopping with my love

2319. holding my girls after a day of senseless tragedy

2320. a front row “seat” at the light show

2321. a heart that hurts for the hurting

2322. a God who heals

2323. a beautiful day to run errands

2324. Christmas shopping done?

2325. my girls – each one a gift

2326. Christmas break

2327. snow!

2328. sleeping in

2329. warm house

2330. UPS man that delivers packages late on rainy nights

2331. December thunder storm

2332. more snow

2333. really good days

2334. girls eager to add to the Gifts We Already Have list

2335. making ornaments

2336. a pre-holiday family getaway

2337. College Basketball Experience

2338. Plaza lights

2339. ice skating

2340. adjoining hotel rooms

2341. making memories together

2342. Christmas celebrations

2343. kids so generous

2344. a hard holiday season over

2345. helping kids learn truthfulness

2346. dear friends coming to visit

2347. celebrating another year of life for my beloved

2348. quiet days

2349. learning to wait in silence

2350. the close of 2012

2351. tentative hope for 2013

2352. cards and pizza with friends on New Year’s Eve

2353. a house sold on the last day of 2012

2354. a blank slate ahead of us; wonder at what this year might bring

2355. beautiful snow everywhere

2356. sleep for tired children

2357. hard conversations revealing a hard heart

2358. praying God to restore, knowing He is able

2359. an ugly gym run; the long road back to being in shape

2360. school plans made

2361. Haiti photo books completed

2362. the return of Friday classes

2363. a four mile walk/run in the mid-day sunshine

2364. fresh snowflakes

2365. Saturday

2366. church that gives so generously to the building project AND to Haiti

2367. being awestruck at God’s goodness

2368. the beginning of a new semester

Praying this is a year full of good habits and trusted routines and a heart full of thanks.

For His Glory ~

A Week and A Book: In Review {2013, Week 1}

January 4, 2013January 17, 2013 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

Trying to get the writing year off to a good start and school starts next week, so not sure how long this momentum will last, but here we are, so let’s go….

This week was a funny one with what kind of felt like two or three Mondays and here we are at Friday already. We semi-celebrated the New Year with a game night at a friends house and friend sleep overs for the girls and enjoying the beautiful snow that fell on NYE. I attempted to get groceries and run my errands ALONE on New Year’s Day but Sam’s had the nerve to be closed. Seriously! 😉 Wednesday was art lessons and errand running in the slushy slop with the youngest two. I’ve been doing a lot of computer work the past couple of weeks, trying to get photos cleaned out and organized and photobooks made and prepping school stuff for second semester and we’ve had wacky sleep schedules with the holidays and friends in town. All that to say, I ended up with a twitchy eye and dull headache that afternoon, which did not make me much fun to shop with. Thursday was our last real day of Christmas break and today the girls started back at Friday classes and I whispered Thank you, Jesus as I drove away. 🙂 Matt and I are both trying to get back in shape after some serious slacking over the holidays. I “enjoyed” a run/walk with a friend today in the toasty 34* sunshine.

So a couple months ago, a friend and I read Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. I have to say it is hands-down one of the best and most unique marriage books I have ever read. As my friend said when we were discussing it, it’s not “do these five things and have a better marriage”. It’s, as the subtitle says, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy.” And the book proceeds to take many of our modern notions about marriage and romance and turn them on their head. Following are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“God did not create marriage just to give us a pleasant means of repopulating the world and providing a steady social institution for the benefit of humanity. He planted marriage among humans as yet another signpost pointing us to his own eternal, spiritual existence.” (p. 30)
“Marriage requires a radical commitment to love our spouses as they are, while longing for them to become what they are not yet. Every marriage moves either toward enhancing one another’s glory or toward degrading each other.” (p. 39, Allender & Longman)
“We must never be naive enough to think of marriage as a safe harbor from the Fall….The deepest struggles of life will occur in the most primary relationship affected by the Fall: marriage.” (P. 53, Allender & Longman)
“We have valued the wrong activities when we look only at a person’s outward accomplishments. Our relationship – especially our marriages – are an integral part of our ministry.” (p. 78)
“We must not enter marriage predominantly to be fulfilled, emotionally satisfied, or romantically charged, but rather to become more like Jesus Christ.” (p. 96)
- how’s THAT for going against the grain?!
“A good marriage is not something you find, it’s something you work for.” (p. 133)
The opposite of Biblical love isn’t hate, it’s apathy.” (p. 155)
“If we enter marriage thoughtfully, purposefully, and with godly intentions, our wedlock will shape us in a way that few other life experiences can. It will usher us into God’s own presence.” (p. 245)

And there’s more….there’s so much more. I’m hoping to go back through the book again soon because I know I could take so much more away from it. Highly readable and highly recommended!

That’s it for me today. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

For His Glory ~

More on peace…

January 3, 2013January 3, 2013 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

It shouldn’t be surprising, but sometimes it is, how God goes ahead of us to show us we’re on the right path.

Yesterday I wrote of my word for the year – peace – and how I long for more of it in our home, in our lives, in my heart. And today I woke up to my quiet time and Jesus Calling and read this…

Refresh yourself in the Peace of My Presence. This Peace can be your portion at all times and in all circumstances. Learn to hide in the secret of My Presence, even as you carry out your duties in the world. I am both with you and within you. I go before you to open up the way, and I also walk alongside you. There could never be another companion as devoted as I am.

Because I am your constant Companion, there should be a lightness to your step that is observable to others. Do not be weighed down with problems and unresolved issues, for I am your burden-bearer. In the world you will have trials and distress, but don’t let them get you down. I have conquered the world and deprived it of power to harm you. In Me you may have confident Peace.

And it ended with this verse from the Amplified Bible (John 16:33)…

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

Take courage! Be confident! Certain, undaunted! Have perfect peace and confidence.

Oh, I love it! He is so good to His children.

For His Glory ~

A New Year, A New Word….

January 2, 2013 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

It’s 2013 and I’m often slow to come around on New Year’s resolutions and goals. Early in my parenting I heard Elisabeth Elliott’s quote “Just do the next thing” and it has characterized how I’ve lived so much of the past twelve years. I don’t seem to have the energy often to think very far ahead, so I simply do the next thing; the next chore, the next class, the next day. When I try to plan too far ahead I find myself trying to live too much in my own strength, not resting in my Jesus. Do the next thing keeps me kneeling. And so, I don’t often have my goals and resolutions ready on January 1. It’s often on January 1 I realize I need to think about such things and I mull and pray and ponder for a few days.

And while I don’t have my goals and hopes for the year lined out yet, I do think I have a word for the year – peace. As we come off a year of political strife and the news is filled with fiscal cliffs and killings and so much uncertainty, as we look ahead at another year for the business and the turning of a calendar page always brings so much uncertainty, as we wait and wonder over trips to Haiti and how many will there be and will our daughter come home this year, peace seems like something we are going to need to be intentional about. As we navigate these tween years with all these girls and one enters her teens this year, as we homeschool and do marriage and ministry and life together, peace is something there is never enough of.

In the midst of a wild and sin-torn world, can our home be a place of peace and refuge? In the midst of the crazy and the unexpected and the mundane, can my heart overflow God’s peace? In the face of uncertainty and doubt and fear, can we model peace to a peace-starved world? Only through resting and trusting in Jesus….May the God of hope fill you with all joy and PEACE as you trust in Him. {Romans 15:13a}

That is the challenge and goal of 2013. What is your one word for 2013?

For His Glory ~

2012 – Year in Review

December 31, 2012 / Sara Vincent / 1 Comment

This year – it’s been a wildly fast one and yet the last five weeks have somehow seemed longer than the 47 before them. As this year comes to a close, it only seems fitting to reflect on all that God has done in our lives in 2012.

We celebrated birthdays and anniversaries. We traveled to Haiti, twice for each of us, and the oldest child made her first trip as well. We wrapped up a really, really hard school year, soaked up the summer, and kicked off a new year which has been so much better thus far. I painted more furniture than I can count and discovered this relatively cheap form of therapy and realized that I need a creative outlet far more than I knew. We made more trips to the doctor’s office this year than all our other years of parenting combined, or at least it seemed that way. We had two broken arms, a split open ear, pertussis, and a myriad of other minor illnesses.

We learned that the adoption process is wildly unpredictable and that a pregnancy with no due date is unfathomably hard to endure. I started the year with a focus on attentiveness and found the word hope written all over it. We took some little trips and focused on time as a family, preparing our hearts and our home for our Haiti girl to join us. I experienced the hardest holiday season I have ever known and God gave me a glimpse of the desperate love He has for us and how He longs for us all to come home.

Oh, this year, it’s been a good one. We have grown and changed and hopefully become more like our Jesus. I am eager to open the door on 2013. I’m cautiously hopeful we will be a family of seven by year’s end. I’m trusting Him to continue to complete what He has started in each of us. And I’m looking forward to where He leads us in the coming year.

Wishing you a blessed beginning of the coming year. May 2013 be the best one yet.

For His Glory ~

Eleven

December 21, 2012 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

Two weeks ago she turned eleven. And she doesn’t ride anymore, but she’s a hard one to get a picture of and this really still depicts her first love.

She’s a second born, this one is, doing what she can to differentiate herself in this house full of girls and way too eager to not miss a thing big sister is doing. She’s funny and kind and can be oh-so-generous. She’s also known to have periods of “high drama”. Sometimes I wonder where she gets it and sometimes all I have to do is look in the mirror to know.

She came out frowning (I kid you not) but she’s learning to laugh at herself and not take life so seriously. She’s a gift and a joy and I’m so thankful she’s ours and I look forward to seeing what the Lord does with this mysterious second-born one day.

Happy (belated) birthday, dear Emma. We love you!

Mom

Seven

December 20, 2012 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

So I realized that in my funk I missed posting about a couple of birthdays. Trying to remedy that before Christmas. 🙂

She’s funny and sweet and bright and witty. She has energy and drama to spare. She loves everyone and still loves her blanket. Some days she’s seven going on seventeen and others she’s seven going on four. But, oh, she’s a gift. She has brought abundant laughter to our family. She has taught us all to be a little more flexible and patient. She is caring and compassionate and loves Jesus.

Happy (belated) birthday, sweet Ellie. Praying this next year brings less tears, just as many laughs, and more loving your Savior.

Love, Mama

When Christmas Seems Dark….

December 16, 2012December 18, 2012 / Sara Vincent / Leave a comment

My heart hangs heavy this Christmas season. The first I can remember that the joy is elusive and so many of the songs seem hollow. I think of children in orphanages who should be in homes. I think of families who continue to wait. I think of old friends who buried their son too soon and of all those children who won’t be there for Christmas this year in Connecticut. I think of officers slain and helicopters circling overhead.

And I wonder, did God’s heart hurt that first Christmas? Separated from His Son, did He ache just a bit, the way so many of us do? Did my Jesus, even as an infant, know He was not home and long to return there as He took His first breaths? Did the Spirit cry out, longing for the triune God to be one again?

I listen to hymns because I need to constantly be fed the rich truth they hold. I write Scripture on paper and chalkboards and screens to write it on my heart. And I ask for Jesus to be near. Not because I’m scared and want to escape, but because we need His presence until He returns and because the only way our hearts will ever truly be happy is when we are finally home.

And the conversation this week will be about gun control and mental health access but the conversation needs to be about the state of our souls. We were made by God and for God and denying His presence has left us with a nation of empty people, angry people, hurting people. We fill ourselves up with the world and find ourselves still wanting and we turn to hobbies or addictions or anything we can find to be filled but the emptiness is God-sized and nothing and no one else will do. But we don’t want to talk about God.

So, what are we to do? We are to shine like lights in the universe. We are to have peace in tribulation. We are to love those who hate. We are to give thanks when it seems there is nothing to say thank you for. Because living in God’s economy on the world’s time causes people to notice. And we have a God who identifies with us in our sufferings and sorrows and we have a God who is patient and wants everyone to know of His love for them.

Lord, you were born in the dark and you came to fill our dark places. And the world seems especially dark this Christmas. Won’t you come and fill us again? Make yourself known to those who desperately need you. Be near those who need your comfort and guidance. Give peace to those who are afraid and draw us all close.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara