It always comes about this time, that antsy feeling, that unspoken longing for schedule, routine, order to our days.  Summer….that glorious time of freedom, sun, water, and play…it takes its toll and our God-given desire for order and productivity begins to cry out.

I love summer.  I love the heat and the endless sunshine.  But I am eager this year for the return of school and routine even if that means the coming on of fall and even winter.  I have come to realize that all these things are (literal) seasons and do not last forever, even if a Kansas winter can find a way to drag into May sometimes.

Tomorrow we begin a new school year.  Two children are begging me to let them start today.  Two more are enjoying their last day to sleep in, in spite of the roofers tearing off shingles above them.  Over the next month activities will come back in on a weekly basis and – amazingly – we will slow down into that steady routine of a school year.  After a wild summer that seemed determined to spin wildly with things to do it will be comforting to know that every week will look more or less the same from now until May.

I am thankful for the past three months.  A family road trip, a house remodeled, swimming pools and lake beaches, our dossier almost complete, and so much more.  And I am thankful for the start of a new school year.  New books, new curriculum, new opportunities.  God is so good and His gifts are endless.

 

1299.  yard sales

1300.  crazy heat

1301.  support

1302.  God’s protection of the third born.  Again.

1303.  a weekend away

1304.  first date anniversary

1305.  wedding anniversary

1306.  spending life with my best friend

1307.  team planning

1308.  sweet friend who prays over me while we run

1309.  dear women who help clean Amania’s house

1310.  pool time with the littlest

1311.  McDonald’s ice cream cones

1312.  $815

1313.  school entered for the coming year

1314.  relaxing Friday

1315.  Camp Enosh

1316.  Tad’s Tropical Snow

1317.  a sign in the yard

1318.  a whole week of slowing down

1319.  family bike ride

1320. last day of summer break

May your week be full of His good gifts.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

*photos from a recent family bike ride; please note that we do not typically let our children play in the public fountains, but with the heat index at 109, we made some concessions.  😉

The emotions swirled this weekend and they all ran strong.  My head swam with thoughts and goals and fears and plans.  And even today everything spins and feels off-kilter, and I, I feel small and insignificant.

In a life where most of my days are spent on the mundane and the unseen (unless, of course, I fail to do it….then it’s very seen!), where every day looks much the same and it’s not hard for the Enemy to plant seeds that what I do does not matter, I am thankful for journals and blogs and gratitude lists that remind me that my Jesus, the God of the Universe, cares and sees and knows.  And He loves me.  And He delights in me.

And the wonderful part is, He’s just as crazy in love with you.

1278.  joyful gift giving

1279.  pierced ears

1280.  new curls

1281.  popsicles on hot days

1282.  air conditioning

1283.  a job for a dear friend

1284.  a gift for our daughter far away

1285.  school books ordered

1286.  holiday weekends

1287.  family

1288.  friends

1289.  freedom

1290.  a quiet day to catch up

1291.  free food for faux cows

1292.  girlfriends over to play

1293.  a weekend full of Haiti

1294.  meeting Daniel and Nicole

1295.  ice cream social

1296.  24 children sponsored

1297.  a text at just the right time

1298.  remembering His faithfulness

I pray that this week you would  know your worth and that you are loved desperately, madly by the King of kings and Lord of lords.  He died to make you His own.

For His Glory ~

~ Sara

I’ll be honest, it’s been a day.  A Monday.  I likely should have practiced what I’ve preached and started my day with the giving of thanks.  Perhaps pausing in this moment will redirect my thoughts as we go into the evening hours.

In Streams recently I read…

Our praise will bring forth “water…in the wilderness and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:6), while complaining will only bring judgment.  Even prayer by itself may fail to reach the fountain of blessings.

Nothing pleases the Lord as much as praise.  There is no greater evidence of faith than the virtue of genuine thanksgiving.  Are you praising God enough?  Are you thanking Him for the countless blessings He has bestowed on you?  Are you boldly praising Him even for the trials in your life, which are actually blessings in disguise?  And have you learned to praise Him in advance for answers yet to come?

~ Streams in the Desert, May 26

Am I praising Him for Mondays and head aches and irritations?  Am I praising Him for phone calls and paperwork and bills?  I will praise Him for these things and for the promise of a new day and renewed minds, for provision, for grace, and for meeting every.single.need.  He is faithful and He is worthy of my praise.

 

1238.  girls playing in rain

1239.  youngest riding a bicycle

1240.  sleeping in (just a bit) on a Thursday

1241.  celebrations and graduations

1242.  interrupted date night

1243.  incredible hail

1244.  time on the porch

1245.  trust, faith

1246.  a perfect day for painting

1247.  support from friends

1248.  being dinner guests

1249.  no tears at swim lessons

1250.  whole house clean

1251.  finishing a book

1252.  last training run

1253.  Hospital Hill 10k!

1254.  a great friend to run it with

1255.  denim that’s worth a little extra

1256.  summer Saturdays

1257.  annual Spring Fling

1258.  Mondays

May you find the countless blessings He has given you today ~

~ Sara

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

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

“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