Author: Sara Vincent

Texas Tour, Part I

/ Sara Vincent / 1 Comment

In case you haven’t ever picked up on it, we love to travel.  We love to see different places and enjoy the change of pace that comes with a get away, be it long or short.  The girls have been begging us to take them to the beach (they speak their mother’s language).  Matt and I lobbied hard for Lost Valley, because as much as I love the beach, Lost Valley is the most magical place on earth when it comes to vacationing as a family.  But, the beach won out.  So we looked into road tripping it to Florida and the beautiful beaches we heard about there but we (Matt) just couldn’t get our (his) heads around the idea of driving 17 hours each way.  So, we looked at other options.

Throughout and right after high school, Matt was involved in a home schooling ministry that resulted in him having wonderful friends all around the country (and the world, in some cases) and a whole slew of those friends live along I35 in Texas.  So, after consulting some of these friends and Google Maps, we decided a Texas Tour, complete with a stop at the beach in Port Aransas, was in order.  Little did we know the “excitement” that lay ahead of us.  😉

*photo disclaimer – I did a horrible job taking pictures of the people we visited on this trip and I’m really annoyed at myself for that.  So, all these friends I’m going to mention over the next few days….not a single picture.  😦  I do have some great ones of the girls, though, so enjoy!

We left our home early two Saturday’s ago (i.e. 1:30 a.m.).  We loaded up a truck full of sleeping babes and headed south.  We stopped near Dallas, Texas, to see our sweet friends Justin and Melissa.  We enjoyed coffee and visiting with them, seeing their sweet new baby girl.  It was so great to visit and catch up, even if only briefly.

After Dallas, we headed on down to Austin.  Grace managed to get car sick between Dallas and Austin.  I rummaged through my purse and found the benadryl and we were up and running again. (Our family doctor said once that benadryl is good for nausea.  I question whether it actually affects the nausea or if it just makes you so darn tired you don’t notice how sick you feel.)

In Austin, friends Drew and Jessica put us up for the night.  We enjoyed catching up with them and loved having dinner with them and more friends (Brian and Peggy and family).  Mother’s day was slow waking up, coffee, very yummy breakfast tacos (in Kansas we would call them breakfast burritos – but they were tacos all throughout Texas), and getting back on the road.  Oh, but not before duct taping our car top luggage carrier back together and saying a quick prayer that our suitcases all stayed securely on top of the vehicle.

After Austin, we embarked on what seemed a very long drive to Port Aransas.  I think we had meant to take the interstate as far as possible, but the GPS took us down state roads through little towns.  It was scenic, but we all just really wanted to be out of the car and on the beach.  The highlight was taking the ferry across the waterways to Port A.  This was quite a thrill, as I was the only one of us who had ever done that before.

We stayed at Port Royal and were thrilled with our accommodations.  Two bedrooms, full kitchen, balcony overlooking the gulf.  We seriously considered staying another night, until Monday happened (I’ll get to that).  The wind on the beach was rather brutal, but the sand was wonderful and it was just fabulous to be near the ocean, soaking up warm sun and moist air.  The hotel also had a great pool, so when we wearied of the wind we headed over there.

Sunday night we (of course) were craving Mexican food.  (Because, let’s be honest, if we are what we eat, our whole family needs green cards.)  The parking spots at the resort were a little unusual.  These are privately-owned vacation homes and each parking slot was designed so that up to three vehicles could park in a line, one behind the other.  Since most of the parking garage was empty, there weren’t very many slots filled three-deep, so Matt just assumed they were deep enough for two cars.  Each bay of three slots was partitioned off with concrete columns.  Matt carefully counted back enough columns for two parking spaces, slowly began to turn to go out of the garage, when we suddenly heard a horrible crunch.

So, let’s pause a moment and begin a running talley of misadventures, forty-eight hours into our trip:

  • car sickness
  • shredded & duct taped car top carrier
  • smashed bumper

All right then.  Moving on.

We gathered our discouragement and headed on out to dinner, counting the right number of columns this time.  Matt had heard good things about a restaurant there on the island and we went in search of it only to find it was closed for Mother’s Day.  All right.  Moving on.  We found another mexican place with a pseudo patio and had a rather subdued dinner, trying to make the best of things.  Really.

Monday morning we woke up, eager to hit the beach and enjoy a day in the sun.  Matt and I were still seriously discussing the possibility of booking another night as this place was just so wonderful and relaxing.  By that night, however, our tune would change dramatically.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day in the sun, going in only to eat lunch.  We played on the beach until a couple of the girls and I had had all the wind we could take then we headed over to the pool.  Later in the day, we headed back out to the beach for a while longer.  I promptly fell asleep on the sand and Matt entertained all the girls.  By the time I woke up, Emma and Ellie were officially DONE, so we headed back to the room.

I knew when I woke up that I didn’t feel great.  I was hot and felt somewhat dehydrated.  I assumed the girls felt the same.  I took them back to the room and had them take showers.  As our skin cooled from the heat and our eyes adjusted from the sun, I began to see that they were all pretty sun burned.

We headed out to dinner, trying that elusive mexican restaurant again.  They’re closed on Monday’s.  😛  So we tried yet another mexican place.  Halfway through dinner Matt was horribly chilled and nauseous and we were all exhausted.  We stopped by the local IGA and picked up some aloe vera gel (with lidocaine!) and I slathered everyone in that, dosed them up on tylenol, and we vegged out watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition reruns on CMT.

Tuesday morning everyone woke up feeling utterly miserable.  I’ll be honest, I’ve not seen sun burns that bad.  Ever.  We did apply sunblock, but apparently spray-on sunblock doesn’t adhere well when you apply it in 20 mph winds.  Matt and I both felt horrible, not because of our own burns (mine were pretty mild really), but because of how the girls now felt.  It was clear we would not want another day at the beach, so we packed up and headed out as quickly as all our aching bodies would move.

So that we don’t lose track, let’s recap our events once again:

  • car sickness
  • shredded & duct taped car top carrier
  • smashed bumper
  • sever sun burns
  • sun sickness

Honestly, we were all feeling pretty darn discouraged by this time.  Vacation was not turning out at all like we had planned.  Matt stopped us all, we prayed.  We gave thanks for the good times we were having and for the discouragements we had faced so far.  We asked the Lord to be with the rest of the trip.  And then we headed out, carefully counting the columns lining the parking spaces.

Tomorrow: San Antonio and our (mis)adventures at near Sea World.

Monday Morning

/ Sara Vincent / 2 Comments

After nearly a week and a half of non-routine and vacation and re-integrating to the real world, what a gift to wake up to a Monday morning and feel the return of “normal”.  Early morning quiet, a run with a friend (and almost conquering an ugly hill), Shred work out, and time in the Word to feed a very hungry soul….all feels right and I pour out thanks for the past few weeks of gifts.  God is good.  He is so good.

1206.  Resurrection Sunday

1207.  a day of baking

1208.  finding joy in food preparation

1209.  school year in the books

1210.  glorious sunshine

1211.  help grooming the dog

1212.  Haiti meeting

1213.  daughter insightful

1214.  date afternoon

1215.  sunburned shoulders

1216.  many hands working cheerfully

1217.  grace to survive on not enough sleep

1218.  five miles of pavement under my feet

1219.  snuggles with the youngest who is rapidly outgrowing my lap

1220.  family road trip

1221.  time with friends far away

1222.  long drives

1223.  hot sun, moist air

1224.  ferry ride

1225.  the beach!

1226.  all my heart in the water, laughing joy

1227.  busted bumper

1228.  too much sun

1229.  shredded car top carrier

1230.  missing keys

1231.  struggles that find us, even on vacation

1232.  stopping, as a family, to pray and give thanks, even for the difficulties

1233.  days with friends, wonderful memories

1234.  home at 4:30 a.m.

1235.  clean house

1236.  a weekend to recover

1237.  a Monday morning return to routine


I am hopeful, as we ease into summer and slower schedules, to return to more regular posting.  This week I plan to share about the comedy of errors that was our recent family vacation.  Be sure to stay tuned.  😉

May you find time this Monday morning to give thanks and find joy in the routine of daily life.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

In Review

/ Sara Vincent / 1 Comment

The past couple of weeks have been an odd mix of boredom and busy.  April has seemed to drag on and on as we have anxiously awaited the end of school and an upcoming road trip.  But the last day of school has finally arrived, and by lunchtime I will be the mother of a sixth grader, fourth grader, third grader, and first grader. Wow.

In the midst of finishing up school, we’ve been doing some spring cleaning.  I know I posted a couple of weeks ago that I wasn’t going to do a massive spring clean this year, but rather go room by room methodically.  Well, I started getting a little twitchy about the fact that I would never experience that wonderful “all clean” feeling that comes after the whole house has been scrubbed.  So, we scrapped that plan and went back to the old way of doing things.  I enlisted the girls more this year than in the past, so it’s probably not quite as clean as it could be, but the overall experience was much more pleasant.

Wednesday I went a little nuts being Suzy Homemaker.  Home made yogurt, granola, six loaves of bread, and more, all in one day.  I slept like the dead on Wednesday night.  Over the past year and a half I have really come to enjoy cooking more than I ever imagined.  It started when I received the Pioneer Woman cookbook as a Christmas gift.  Her visual-learner-friendly format (lots of pictures) made new recipes so much less intimidating and built in me the confidence to try new things.  Since then, I’ve branched out and find a deep sense of satisfaction in preparing my family’s food from scratch, or as close to scratch as I can get.  Food preparation has gone from feeling like a giant burden and chore, to feeling like more of an art.  And anyone who’s known me for more than a year will probably be quite amazed by that last statement.  😉

Things are quiet on the adoption front, and probably will be for a while.  The house is coming along.  We’re hoping to have it ready to paint in the next couple of weeks.

We have six ballet classes left for the year.  Well, nine if you count rehearsals.  Either way it’s in the single digits and that’s a good thing.  😉  I really do enjoy the girls’ ballet, but am always ready for the year to be over.

We let the girls swap bedrooms a couple of weeks ago.  It was Grace / Chandler and Emma / Ellie; now it is Grace / Ellie and Emma / Chandler.  They’ve honestly done better than expected, particularly one pair that I was concerned about.

I’m training with a friend for a 10k in June.  It’s a notoriously hilly run, so we’ve been trying to acclimate to that.  I won’t lie, it’s been brutal.  😦  I came up with a plan this morning that will hopefully help us push past this road block we seem to have hit.  I am really thankful for this upcoming race as it has pushed and will continue to push me to be more disciplined in my running, at least for another month.  But on the other hand, I’m still on the fence about doing another half in the future.  I just hate when running becomes a chore and an obligation, and that seems to be how I start to feel about it when I have to do a certain number of miles each week instead of just going out and running because it feels good.

Tonight we have a planning meeting for the Haiti ministry we have kind of “fallen” into.  This is the ministry that oversees the orphanage where our daughter is, and since Matt’s return from Haiti our involvement has become significant, adoption aside.  I’m excited; God’s hand is so clearly upon this ministry, this orphanage, I’m thrilled to be part of what He’s doing.  I feel like He’s been preparing me, us, for this for a few years now.  Using books like Crazy Love and Radical and The Hole in Our Gospel that have challenged my way of thinking and broken my heart….He’s been leading us to this point.  And who knows if adoption and serving in this ministry are all He has planned.  I’m just thrilled to be part of the story He’s writing in these kids lives.

I think that gets us up to date.  Wishing all of you a blessed weekend!

By His Grace ~

~ Sara

In the quiet of a Monday morning…

/ Sara Vincent / 6 Comments

I steal a few minutes as the girls sleep in.  It’s late, considering we still have school this week.  But the house is quiet, so I’ll capture the moments in words.

Life has been full and my mind has been racing, fighting the urge to be overwhelmed at all that needs to be done.  With house, husband, and children that need my attention (not necessarily in that order 😉 ), plus adoption and ministry and friends, I have been praying about where blogging fits into my life right now.  I enjoy the sitting down, writing, and I enjoy it most when I do it consistently.  I am blessed when the Lord uses the hard days in my life to encourage others.  And I know, that if I don’t write here, there will be no record of our days when the girls get older.

But the Lord (and I do believe it is from Him for a purpose) has given me this pain in my shoulder.  I rarely feel it, unless I am on the computer too much.  I honestly feel that He has given it to me because it is far too easy for me to focus all of my energies on this screen and not on the life being lived all around me.  So, I have to guard my time here, or suffer the consequences later.

I really don’t know what it is I’m trying to say this morning, other than to write out where my mind and heart have been.  I will continue to be here and I hope that I can return to daily writing again soon.  But I accomplish nothing if I fight against this season I am in and insist on my own way, so I have to accept the fact that there will be days, if not weeks, when writing is limited simply because life is full.  And really, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I am blessed beyond measure.  I ask you for grace when I disappear for a while.  Feel free to subscribe by clicking the button on the right or add me to your reader, so you are sure to not miss a post.

Today, though, I gratefully count the gifts He has so generously given….

1184.  four miles not as hard


1185.  new running shoes

1186.  computer mouse that works


1187.  sunny days

1188.  watching Emma ride


1189.  less school books

1190.  deals for next year


1191.  displays of God’s great power

1192.  an afternoon run


1193.  love letters from my girls

1194.  sunshine


1195.  stacks of new library books

1196.  fresh salsa – taste of summer


1197.  color in the flower beds

1198.  agency fees that mean she’s one step closer to being ours


1199.  re-organizing projects on the brain

1200.  that feeling that comes after working together on a hot, sunny Saturday


1201.  three miles of hills run

1202.  date night


1203.  mason jar overflowing spring

1204.  a humble King who rides on a donkey


1205.  the beginning of Holy Week, the road that brings redemption


May you find quiet moments to count the gifts He’s given today.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

*photos from a Sunday afternoon exploring a nearby cliff

Adoption Update – Where Will the Money Come From?

/ Sara Vincent / 2 Comments

I haven’t said much about our adoption for a couple of weeks.  Of course, I haven’t said much about much of anything for a couple of weeks, so why would this be any different?  😉

Our agency application was received and approved (maybe I already said that?) and we sent in our agreement a few weeks ago.  About two weeks ago, I received the very symbolic dossier guide.  I have been very excited about this document.  Something about it just symbolizes to me the realness of the path we’re on.  And then I printed it out – all 35 pages plus 9 pages of home study report guidelines – and once my head stopped spinning, I became very thankful that I’m more than a bit of a paperwork nerd and get a weird thrill out of checking things off lists and gathering obscene amounts of information into one place.  If I don’t get bogged down in the minutiae, this could be fun!  😉

So I have the guide and Wednesday I had a conference call with the agency to go over it.   The conference call was very helpful and kindled new excitement as I was told we can go ahead and start gathering our dossier documents in early June (I had previously assumed late June, due to our December 27 birth date issue) with the goal of having our dossier in Haiti in September and sitting on someone’s desk at IBESR on December 27 (in a perfect world….this is the world of international adoption, so we’re not holding our breath, but God is big and this adventure is all Him).

One question we have gotten is how will you pay for it? I do not know if it is the fact that Matt and I both grew up in families where income was such that it was often “feast or famine” or if the experience of owning our own business for 9 years and watching God’s amazing, miraculous, providing hand in our lives has made us this way, but we really haven’t been too concerned about the money.  That said, there have certainly been moments when I have looked at the months ahead and the natural expenses that go along with raising a family with four children and then look at the numbers on that adoption fee schedule and I break into a cold sweat.  But I know that those whom God has called, He will also equip, and He will not leave us nor forsake us.

So, where will the money come from?  Well, first there’s the good old fashioned savings account.  Matt has worked so hard the past few years putting any extra money we have away.  I know it was not his plan to draw from that so soon, but what’s to say that God was not preparing us for such a time as this?

Our other “fund” is a bit of a risk.  Okay, a big risk, but the timing of how it came to pass has us believing that Lord wants to use this opportunity for His glory.

Last fall a house across the street from us came up for sale.  We have bought and sold houses many times over the years, both ones we’ve lived in and ones we’ve tried to flip.  To be honest, I am over that whole process, especially the ones that we are buying simply to resell.  However, this particular house was cheap enough we were pretty sure we could do everything for cash, so I was okay with it.

Matt made an offer and nothing happened for weeks and weeks and weeks.  Matt went to Haiti in January (remember, the offer was placed in the fall), with instructions on what to do if the Realtor called while he was out of the country.  That wasn’t necessary, as the Realtor never called.  I didn’t care one way or the other, as I didn’t really want to own another house.

Matt returned home and our world began to spin a little faster as we contemplated and prayed about the whole adoption possibility and all the different things it would mean.  We knew we had the money to pay for it, but really didn’t want the hit to our savings.  But we knew we were being called to do this and we knew that the money, while a lot to us, was nothing to God and He would provide.  And if He chose to provide through our reserves, so be it.

About a week later, the Realtor called.  We were closing on the house across the street on Friday.  The closing date ended up moving a time or two, but we did close and we are now the proud owners of another home.

As we talked about it in the days that followed, we both really felt that this could be the Lord’s way of paying for our adoption.  Even before the Realtor called to confirm our purchase, Matt had felt that this could be part of how we pay to bring our daughter home.  Once we learned we were closing, Matt dubbed it “our adoption fund”.

We are well aware that the real estate market stinks right now, but our God is bigger than that.  If what we are feeling is correct and not just our vain imaginings, He will bring all these things to pass and work in even a crummy real estate market.  Worst case scenario, we have improved a house in the neighborhood, but I believe the end result will be better than just that.

So, our next several weeks will be filled with fixing up an old house and making it ready to sell.  If you’re local and can wield a paint brush or roller as well as or better than our seven year old, feel free to drop by and join us!  If not, could we ask you to pray that the Lord would be bringing and preparing just the right buyers for this house?  Not only will they be helping us bring our daughter home, they’ll be watching her and all her sisters grow up across the street.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

Something (Kind of) Different

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It is Monday, the day when I typically count the gifts, and the gifts to count are plenty. But today I’m going to change things up a bit. March was such a whirlwind with so little time to journal our daily lives, I want to do that tonight. Plus, my gratitude journal is downstairs, and i just don’t want to get up to go get it. 😉 My regular counting of the gifts should resume next week.

So, something clicked our lives into overdrive as soon as we turned the calendar page to March last month. I am thankful for all the distractions that have helped the past few weeks pass so quickly, but I am more ready than ever for the “lazy days” of summer! (That term being completely relative, of course!)

March brought us field trips like Exchange City in Kansas City and week long Starbase put on by the Department of Defense. Then we had Grace’s fine arts competition and last week we made it through three days of standardized testing. It brought us glimpses of spring and extra doses of winter. It brought us the birthday of our little girls in Haiti. We carried on with ballet and horseback riding and church and small group. Matt attended meetings to learn how we can better support the orphanage in Haiti and the girls and I got four weeks closer to the end of the school year.

And here we are in April already. Saturday all of us went to one of our new favorite mexican restaurants and then did some shopping at one of our favorite outdoor malls. Last night, we watched some wicked thunderstorms roll through and we marveled at God’s greatness. Today I reported for jury duty. It was an interesting experience and one day I wouldn’t mind serving on a jury, but this would be a very difficult time of life to sit in a courtroom for several days. I was very thankful to finally be sent home after being there for close to seven hours.

I feel somewhat caught up now. I’m sorry there aren’t any photos to make this post more interesting. :-). This is the part of my blog that is mostly for me and those that are interested in our daily goings on; these posts of our day-to-day existence are my journal of our daily lives in this season.

I hope you have a wonderful week. Keep your eyes open for Hid grace and good gifts!
~ Sara

Time and Balance – Keeping It Clean

/ Sara Vincent / 1 Comment

It’s spring!  Or, at least, we keep getting glimpses of spring and soon enough it will be here to stay.  For many of us as women, spring awakens dormant desires to clean, clean, clean.  It would be interesting to know what causes this internal urge we all seem to get around the same time of the year!  I know it has kicked in around here, so today I would like to share some little things I have been implementing over the past few months.

First, one of my goals for this school  year has been to pass on more responsibility to the girls.  Their activity schedules are getting to the point where they affect my ability to keep the house in order, therefore, they need to help pick up the slack.  We have implemented the Thursday Clean Up, which is either a quick sweep through the house with light dusting and bathroom cleanings or it might be a lengthier, more thorough cleaning of each room.  It honestly depends on what we have time for and how bad the house is.  Either way, we go into the weekend with the house presentable and me not panicking if we randomly decide to have friends over at any point during the weekend.

Second, for the past few years I have done a top-to-bottom scrub down of our house every spring once school is out for the year.  Last year, however, it took a toll on me and took a lot longer than I really had time for, so this year I am trying something different that I am hoping to maintain throughout the year.  Along with our regular weekly cleaning, we are deep cleaning one room/zone each week.  This includes, but is not limited to, dusting ceilings/corners, washing all trim/doors/baseboards, washing windows, and other things that don’t get done during the once a week sessions.  Based on the number of rooms/zones we have, we could potentially do the whole house once each quarter.  However, I know that there will be weeks/seasons when we can’t do this.  So I’m hoping that by being faithful when we have time, we can clean each room to this greater degree at least twice a year.

Third, with the girls taking on more of the cleaning, I have been trying out some home made household cleaners.  This is mostly because my girls really enjoy spraying the Windex and Pledge and excessive use of those can do damage to the budget!  One very simple product that we use during our weekly cleaning sessions is the dry microfiber cloth.*  While I feel like it tends to leave some dust behind, it really does a great job for everyday-type cleanings.   (*I am not promoting this particular cloth; I’m simply including the link as a reference.)

As for actual cleaners, I really like this granite cleaner recipe found on Tip Nut.  I also like several of the recipes at Mormon Chic, especially the window cleaner (plain club soda!) and the all purpose household cleaner.  I am learning that with the homemade cleaners you may have to do some extra polishing (and don’t let your cloth get too dirty/wet) to get a nice shine.  However, especially with the club soda glass cleaner, I am much happier with the end result than I am even with Windex.  Another great, simple product that I have come to love is plain vinegar and water.  I am amazed at how my chrome fixtures sparkle after this!

Well, that’s it for my house keeping tips for today! Happy Spring Cleaning!

~ Sara

Counting the Faith Promises

/ Sara Vincent / 1 Comment

“God honors faith – stubborn faith – that sees His PROMISE and looks to that alone.  We can only imagine how bystanders today, watching these holy men of God march on, (the Levites carrying the Ark into the Promised Land) would say, ‘You will never catch me running that risk!  That ark will be swept away!’ Yet ‘the priests…stood firm on dry ground.”

“Oh, for the kind of faith that will move ahead, leaving God to fulfill His promise when He sees fit!  Fellow Levites, let us shoulder our load, without looking as though were carrying God’s coffin.  It is the ark of the living God!  Sing as you march toward the flood!”

“One of the distinguishing marks of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church was the spirit of boldness.  One of the great essential qualities of the kind of faith that will attempt great things for God and expect great things from God is holy boldness and daring.  When dealing with a supernatural Being and taking things from Him that are humanly impossible, it is actually easier for us to take a lot than it is to take a little.  And it is easier to stand in a place of bold trust than in a place where we cautiously and timidly cling to the shore.”

~ Streams in the Desert, March 28

As I count the 1000 Gifts each day, recount them each week, I chronicle His goodness to me, to us.  I list His mercies, His blessings, even the hardships that He uses to mold and shape a mother, a family.  I slowly write a journal of faith and as I look back I see glimpses of nearly a year and a half of gift-counting, record-keeping.  Half a dozen words or less bring back a memory otherwise forgotten in the day-to-day busyness.  And as we face new trials, ones we are not in now but will surely come because in this world we will have trouble, I can come back to the record of His faithfulness and know He has not forgotten us, will not ever forget us.

Clearly seeing God’s hand in my life, recording it, gives that bold faith that allows me to carry on in the face of human impossibility.  Sharing stories gives encouragement, boldness to others.  We leave a legacy of faith by recounting what He has done, is doing in our everyday lives – the big and the small, the mundane and the significant – because for most of us, it is in the daily pressure of life that God’s grace is worked out in us.


Counting just some of the gifts of the past week and chronicling His faithfulness that gives bold faith….

1179.  the end of a long week

1180.  Friday alone with the oldest

1181.  first place painting!

1182.  dates and reconnecting

1183.  words that speak encouragement

May you be encouraged by God’s gifts to you.  May you find bold faith in His faithful love.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

*photos of Grace with her painting for an area fine arts competition….first place for elementary acrylic painting, proud mama am I

Four

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Today, at an orphanage in Haiti, our littlest girl turned four.  When the Lord put her in our hearts, we wondered how much we would ever know about her.  So much of her story was a mystery to us.  So much of her story still is a mystery to us.  But we now know more of why and when she came to the orphanage.  And we know her birth date.  A date so significant to a child, but so taken for granted by us, I’m sure I cannot fully comprehend the importance.

So today she has been bathed in extra prayer and tonight we will celebrate here with Haitian style rice and beans and beyen.  (I truly have no idea how authentic either of these dishes are but, then again, neither does anyone else in our house.  😉 )  And, Lord willing, for her this will be one of only a few birthdays spent without a family to celebrate it with her.

1151.  girls playing basketball after dinner

1152.  days of soul renewing sunshine

1153.  clean front yard

1154.  clean truck

1155.  food, fellowship, and long laughter with friends

1156.  looking forward to gathering

1157.  tripping over yesterday’s flip flops while snow falls outside

1158.  dog joyfully, playfully chasing snowflakes

1159.  grocery shopping done early and under budget

1160.  countless ways the oldest is like her father

1161.  7:30 p.m. and still light out

1162.  new KU shirt

1163.  girls always so excited for the hand-me-downs

1164.  park to ourselves

1165.  feeling WARM!

1166.  sisters outside blowing bubbles

1167.  ballet watch week

1168.  oldest really dancing en pointe!

1169.  prayers of a five year old

1170.  soft curls falling across her face

1171.  outpouring of love gifts

1172. photos of our daughter

1173.  words that bless

1174.  last day of winter

1175.  first day of spring

1176.  Christian birthdays

1177.  allergies that leave me flat on the couch but remind me winter has passed

1178.  a birthday celebration for a little one far away

May your week be filled with the good gifts He gives.  May you delight in His love!

~ Sara

Spring Break

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It’s spring break here this week, and even though I have numerous blog posts bouncing around in my head, I’m taking this week off.  We have projects to work on and I want to be sure to do some things to make this week fun, so I’m going to do what I can to keep from being distracted by my own pursuits this week.  See you all Monday!

~ Sara