Author: Sara Vincent

Week in Review

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It’s the end of the day at the end of the week.  I’ve been quiet here again this week.  Practicing the proverb “where words are many, folly abounds”.  Actually, practicing not being that, hopefully.   My ears and emotions are tired, but I want to set my heart on the good.  I want to remember what I read on Ann’s page this week, “That which I refuse to thank Christ for, I refuse to believe Christ can redeem.”  I believe He will redeem this season.  He will make beauty from ashes, good from hard times.  Trusting that is the only thing that gets me through some of the days lately.

Today the girls and I spent the afternoon making the house look like this:

I love my house at Christmas; it almost seems to have been built for the season.  (Well, except for how drafty it is.)  And while this blessedly long fall means it doesn’t really feel like the Christmas season yet, at least we’re ready!  😉

Tomorrow Matt and I will go do some Christmas shopping.  Alone.  Together.  #bliss

I have to say that I am feeling totally ahead of the game, even though I’m really not.  But some gifts are purchased and about half of the Christmas cards have been ordered and it’s not even Thanksgiving.  It’s been several years since I’ve been this prepared.  In fact, I’m guessing it’s been six years, since that’s how long ago I had a baby due during the holidays.

Anyway, that’s it for me.  Life is good even when it’s hard and I want to be thankful for it all.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

Thankfulness on a Wednesday

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Practicing the deliberate giving of thanks today.  I need to remember the gifts, His faithfulness, His mercies.

1432.  cool, rainy days

1433.  candles

1434.  quiet Christmas music

1435.  coffee

1436.  days that keep your eyes on God

1437.  succesful family pictures

1438.  dead batteries and tangled balloons

1439.  enjoyable sleepovers

1440. a one mile run

1441.  a drama-free Sunday

1442.  daughters who help sisters

1443.  a husband who’s got my back

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

More From the Ellie (and Emma) Chronicles

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As is often the case, a couple of these stories are old hat to our Facebook friends, but they must be recorded for posterity.

While trick-or-treating through the neighborhood on Halloween, Matt and the girls approach the home of one of our neighbors.  They are a couple about my parents’ age and they are hosting two exchange students this year.  As one of the foreign girls opens the door, Ellie declares, “Oh look!  It’s the maid!”

Another time recently, Ellie and her sisters had destroyed their room.  Their consequence was to get up early before Friday classes to clean it up so that they could go skating after classes that afternoon.  At 4 a.m., as Matt and I were getting up, we hear a door open down the hall and little feet shuffling toward us.  Ellie comes in all squinty-eyed with her blanket up by her face and groans, “I can’t clean.  It’s too dark!”

Lastly, we were out to dinner recently as a family.  We were trying to broaden the girls’ horizons a bit, so we opted for a Chinese restaurant for dinner instead of our standard Mexican fare.  Emma had gone to use the restroom and was gone a ridiculously long time.  The bathroom was just a few feet from our table and it was a “one holer”, so to speak, so I was confident nothing questionable was going on.  Another woman was waiting outside the door for her chance to use the bathroom so I send another child to tell Emma to hurry up.  She finally joins us back at the table going on and on about this (very normal) bathroom.  After her lengthy description of all its details she looks at her hands and exclaims, “Wait!  Why did I wash my hands?  I didn’t even go!” and then excuses herself to go do what she forgot to do the first time.  🙂

Life is never boring!

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

Our Food Story, Part I

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When Matt and I got married, we came from two very different worlds.  And like pretty much every other aspect of our lives, our food backgrounds really couldn’t be more different.

I grew up in a home where both of my parents worked.  My mom cooked tasty food, but it wasn’t her favorite thing to do.  Once my brother (ten years my senior) went off to college and my dad was working a lot of evenings, it was really just her and I and I was a terribly picky eater, so often we would eat out or eat something quick and easy.  I grew up a “grazer” and ate pretty much whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.

In Matt’s home, his mom was at home and found satisfaction in preparing meals for their family.  She worked hard to make things healthful and as natural as possible.  They were organic health food before organic health food was cool. He grew up a member of the Clean Plate Club and pretty much only ate at designated meal times.

I’m not saying one is better or worse than another.  Both mothers were doing their best to provide nutritious meals for their families.  My only point is we came to the table (so to speak) in marriage with different backgrounds, liking similar foods, but used to eating in very different ways.

As the primary grocery shopper and food preparer in our family, I prepared meals the way I grew up eating them and I stocked the pantry and refrigerator the way it had always been done at my parents’ house.

While Matt enjoyed and appreciated this approach food, his waistline did not.  Over the years we have learned that he can’t eat the way I grew up eating.  And since I no longer have the ridiculously fast metabolism I once had (thank you, age 32, for taking that away without warning), I can’t either.  So, like so many aspects of our marriage, we’ve had to find out own way of doing food, nutrition, and mealtimes.  And I’ll share more about that next week.

***********

Here’s a recipe for this week.  It was rather accidental – something I’ve never done before.  I’m a big fan of recipes and following them exactly.  However, Monday was cool and drizzly and I had some potatoes that were growing eyes and needed to be used or tossed, so I threw some things together and made what may be my new favorite potato soup.

Accidental Potato Soup

  • 3-4 good sized potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • baby carrots as desired, chopped
  • 1 small to medium sized red onion, diced
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups half and half
  • salt and pepper to taste

Throw all ingredients into pot and heat to a slow boil.  Cook, stirring regularly, until potatoes are cooked through.  Serve with crackers or warm bread and enjoy!

This made a good-sized pot and my family nearly licked it clean in one night.

 

Time and Balance Tuesday – Five Reasons I Love My Smart Phone

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Well, I think I promised this post a few weeks back, but October has been dubbed “the month that got away”, so here we go trying to start again.

Late this last summer, I traded in my Blackberry for a gently used iPhone and my Mac product brainwashing was complete.  I’m a big fan of my phone.  I have found several apps that have simplified my life and allowed me – an avowed “paper person” – to go virtually paperless.  Here are some of my favorite apps; maybe they will help you too:

  • iCal – if you have an iPhone, this is obviously not an app you have to go out and download, it comes with the phone.  I have found it to be so easy to use that, like I said above, I have completely eliminated the paper planner that has been a part of my life since 9th grade. (<—– NERD!)
  • Seize the Day – once I realized I could go paperless with my calendar, I wanted to find a task list for my phone to see if I could go paperless there too.  I found Seize the Day, a free app that works really well and clicking the check box when I finish something is almost as much fun as crossing it off on paper.  And rescheduling is much better than rewriting several items to the next day on paper.  Two thumbs up.
  • Calengoo – since I spent a fair amount of time creating a workable school schedule for us this year, with actual times for actual classes, I wanted to find a program that would alert me when it was time for someone to move on to the next class without me constantly referring to a spreadsheet at the back of my clipboard.  Calengoo will do exactly that.  One could also put their daily calendar and task lists on this app as well, but I don’t want my personal calendar cluttered with school stuff and I don’t want our school calendar cluttered with our personal stuff and my to do list, so I have opted to use this app exclusively for school.  Again, two thumbs up.
  • iPeriod Free – this one is just for the ladies….the name pretty well sums up what you’re going to do with this app.  I’ve had this app on my iPad for over a year and now it’s on my phone.  Very easy to use and accurate.  You can chart your cycles up to a year ahead, which can be helpful if you’re planning a get away or just want to know what to expect when.
  • Local library app – this one is just for folks where live here locally….with this handy little app I can now easily check the library catalog for a book or author we are interested in and reserve the book from my phone.  Even better, I can check what books are due when without entering that ridiculously long card number on the website and renew them if necessary.  Hopefully this will help with our occasional run-ins with the overdue fees.

There you go – my five favorite apps for the iPhone.  How do you use technology to simplify your life?

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

To Find Him in the Everyday

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Beloved Father, help me to expect you as I travel the ordinary road of life.  I am not asking for sensational experiences.  Fellowship with me through my everyday work and service and be my companion when I take an ordinary journey.  And let my humble life be transformed by Your presence. 

~ Streams in the Desert, October 22

“There is a reason I am not writing the story, and God is.  He knows how it all works out, where it all leads, what it all means.  I don’t.  Maybe…it’s accepting there are things we simply don’t understand.  But He does.”

~ Ann Voskamp

A Velveteen Mother — made Real by the years — the way grace can happen to you. And not all at once — but you become. And grace becomes you.

To be just a Velveteen Mother: worn and weathered down to the exquisite beauty of the frame of the Cross.

It’s the threadbare simplicity of the thing: a Velveteen mother — softened and strengthened by the years, rubbed down to the essence of Gospel — like the Lion Who sacrifices Himself as a Lamb.

And maybe that is all — a Velveteen Mother is a mother who keeps bending her worn knees with prayers that her child may walk straight paths. Never ceasing to pray for her own crooked heart.

Never forgetting — Train up a child in the way he should go and be ready to forgive him. The Way he should go is down a road named Grace.

Why do I forget that becoming Real — becoming a velveteen mother –  it will hurt in a thousand ways?

~ Ann Voskamp

After a slow wearing down and fighting the same battles and remembering that this war we wage is not against flesh and blood, and knowing that we fight discontentment with gratitude, I start again.  After too many weeks away, after October “the month that got away”, I begin the holiday season with an effort to slow, savor, and count the gifts.

1408.  being lice free

1409.  the chance to start feeling caught up

1410.  not running

1411.  family game of Monopoly

1412.  Friday night at home

1413.  getting there

1414.  clean house and truck

1415.  Chandler’s first 5k

1416.  pushing through 3.1 painful miles

1417.  the healing of deep laughter

1418.  approval letters

1419.  getting away

1420.  tropical storms

1421.  being content

1422.  ninety-three days

1423.  being with my peeps

1424.  two nights at home together

1425.  slowing down

1426.  laundry neatly stacked and folded

1427.  rainy days

1428.  candles

1429.  leaves swirling wonder around third-born child

1430.  facing the same frustration

1431.  becoming a velveteen mother

Won’t you join me this month in giving thanks to the Giver of all good gifts?  Even those gifts that hurt and wear us down and keep us on knees and faces…even these are good gifts in His hands.  Even when we don’t understand how something good could ever come, we can trust the One who has given all things for our good and His glory.

May your day be filled with thanks.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

Update Week: On Life and Lice

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It feels as though the past three and a half weeks have been lived in survival mode.  Between race training and head picking, it’s been all I could do to keep us all afloat.  However, as of yesterday, it is with great joy and relief that I can now say We are lice free!!!  🙂

In the midst of just trying to keep things going, projects like Thirty for 30 have taken a bit of a back seat.  Matt has tried to do it at least a couple of nights a week, but I’ve had to take that time to do things like laundry, check school, or sleep.  Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we’ll be able to get back into the swing of some of those “hard stops” we have been trying to implement.

I’ve been asking God for the past few weeks the why of head lice.  We’ve had them once before and, while I hope to never ever ever do this again, I have been able both times to find the gift in them.  The first time, head lice forced us to stop.  We had been going at what seemed like a break-neck pace and suddenly, that all came to a screeching halt.  And, while inconvenient, it was definitely a gift.

This time I feel like God has shown me my own sin, my own idolatry.  He revealed to me that I had taken something good, something beneficial – the concept of a schedule and routine – and made it into an idol.  I was seeking so hard after something predictable that I could control that I had stopped trusting Him for the strength for each day, each moment.

I still love and crave routine and schedule.  I believe we were made for it and I know we all do better with it.  But I realize that it is not the schedule that will save us, nor will some ideal of a methodical, predictable life.  In the midst of running a small business, home education, life with kids, adoption, being involved with church and ministry, no matter how hard I try our life is going to be somewhat crazy and trying to force us to fit into a box we weren’t made for is only going to frustrate everyone and keep us from modeling our Savior to each other and those around us.

I am prayerful that as we move into the holiday season over the next few weeks that we will be able to slow down, to enjoy the season and consider its weight and worth.  But I also know that these years are fleeting and fighting the fullness of time will only leave us all empty.  So more than anything, I pray that God gives the grace to enjoy each moment, to soak up the wonder of it, and to savor the glory and peace He gives each day.  Because He is more than enough to meet all our needs.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

Update Week: The Running Post

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On Saturday I ran my fourth half marathon.  The past few weeks of training have reminded me of some things that seem to apply to life as well.

  1. Running is hard.  But it’s always worth it.
  2. It’s always better with friends.
  3. It’s about 90% mental attitude.

Point three was key this past weekend and it’s what God and I have been talking about ever since.

My wonderful friend and running buddy Nikki and I trained hard through a lot of different challenges and prepared our bodies to not only run this race but meet a personal time goal.  We went to bed early on Friday night and did our best to sleep well, but already my mind was fighting against fear and nerves.

I’ve run this particular course three times now. I know the parts that I struggle with, that have been hard in the past and my mind that night before the race was telling me that it was going to be harder than ever because not only did I want to finish, I wanted to finish fast. (Well, fast for me.  Not fast for the Kenyans.)

(look at that elevation profile – not flat!)

We got up Saturday morning and started the race strong.  We made it up the hill I had been dreading and I was still feeling good.  And then a second steeper – but shorter – hill that I had apparently blocked out in my mind came right on the heels of the big hill and I struggled all the way up it.  My body was able to do the work, but my mind was weak.

By mile four I was ready to cry and had to walk shortly after.  Poor Nikki tried so so so hard to keep me motivated and dragged me along for five more miles before we got separated by the crowd.

God and I talked a lot that last 4.1 miles.  I knew He had helped me prepare for that day and I gave up.  I didn’t claim the victory He had given me and I don’t think missing a goal in a race is a sin, but not walking in faith and obedience is and that’s what had happened.  I chose failure that day because I chose fear.  I was afraid that even if I worked hard I wouldn’t meet my goal.  I was afraid of working hard and still letting myself/Nikki/those who came to watch down.  I was afraid of hills and fatigue and an uneasy stomach.  I was afraid I couldn’t conquer that race and so I chose not to be carried by the One who had already given me the victory.

And all too often, that’s how we deal with life.  We are afraid so we refuse to walk in faith.  What if God doesn’t provide?  What if there isn’t enough?  What if He doesn’t do what He said He would?  What if I misunderstood? What if?  What if?  What if???  But God has already given us the victory through Christ Jesus His Son.  That doesn’t mean that we won’t struggle and that He won’t allow hard things to draw us closer and teach us more and cause us to lean harder on Him.  He calls the weak and the broken and the ill-equipped.  We will need Him more and more.  But He calls us to walk in faith, to walk in the victory He has given.  And to give all the glory to Him, because only He is worthy.

By His grace I will run another race.  (At the time of this writing I’m still so stiff I can’t run at all, but that should heal soon enough.)  And by His grace I will meet that time goal.  But even if I don’t, that’s really not the point.  The point is to work hard, train hard, and trust Him for the results and the courage to finish well.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

Adoption Update

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With as hectic as life has been lately, I have neglected posting about our adoption progress.

On September 1 we received word that our dossier had been received by the agency.  On September 26 we learned that our dossier had passed review and was being sent on to translation.  On October 13 we were notified that our dossier had been received back from the interpreter, was being reassembled, and would be sent off next for legalization by/at the Consulate (I’m not sure if this is a person or an agency…I should ask more questions).  The dossier department is hopeful to have it back within a week or two.  On October 14 Matt and I took a “date” to USCIS for fingerprinting.  We had been given the impression this was a very intimidating process, but we were in and out in twelve minutes and the gentlemen who did our prints were very pleasant.  We left thinking we must have missed something because it was so painless!

One of the most exciting things that has transpired in the past month was getting a contract on Amania’s house!  I almost threw a party in my SUV when I pulled up and saw this:

We are hoping to close by the end of the month, deo volente.

That’s the scoop for now.  Hopefully we’ll have more good news soon!

~ Sara

Thankful

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I’ve been so hit and miss lately and so much has been happening, this seems like a good week for catching up.  First, always first, giving thanks for the good gifts and the hard gifts He has given over the past few weeks.  He is faithful, even when I am not.  This is inconceivable grace.

1373.  hard runs that are cheap therapy

1374.  long talks

1375.  13.7 miles on my own

1376.  fm radio on the iPod

1377.  “putty” golfing

1378.  twelve hours of sleep

1379.  head lice

1380.  forced change of plans

1381.  perspective

1382.  calm

1383.  an offer!

1384.  a contract

1385.  a sold sign

1386.  eleven “easy” miles

1387.  Row House with friends

1388.  home again on Sunday morning

1389.  counting gifts even when the heart grumbles

1390.  nine year old playing piano

1391.  last long run – done!

1392.  date night

1393.  second place at her second horse show

1394.  face down before the Lord

1395.  a God who hears

1396.  a sick one sleeping soundly

1397.  gold leaves on wet black pavement

1398.  sky – amazing shades of blue

1399.  moon – bright and clear

1400.  race training finished

1401.  four clean heads

1402.  hearing that still, small voice as I pray

1403.  confessing I have made an idol out of something good

1404.  another adoption hoop jumped through

1405.  race day

1406.  missing the mark

1407.  knowing I can try again

Hoping your week begins and ends with a heart full of thanks.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara