Our sweet Sophia turned 3 years old on Saturday. There are no words adequate enough to express the joy she has brought to our family over the last 3 precious years. At age 3 she loves to sing, dance like a ballerina, dress up like a princess (which I am slowly coming to terms with), and color in her girly coloring books. She knows her letters and numbers and is pretty much a genius :). She is one special little girl and I am humbled daily that God entrusted her to us.
Little girls with big brothers get to celebrate birthdays at the soccer field :). We did manage to take her out for lunch at The Summit and a birthday cookie in between games.
Sophia and I strolled around the mall while the boys watched a movie to pass the time until the next game in our tournament. She picked out this fabulous hat and wouldn't leave the store without it. I could barely pry it out of her hands to pay for it. And really, would you have been able to say no after one look at her wearing it?!
Noah's team came in 2nd place in the tournament and he scored a goal in one of the games. We ended our month long birthday celebration with one last cake on Sunday night. I just couldn't let her birthday pass by without seeing 3 candles being blown out by the sweetest girl in the world! (and as you can see, I haven't exactly found the time to take that cake decorating class just yet)
Just a couple of days before Sophia's birthday we helped Duane usher in his 38th year! We celebrated with dinner at home (eating dinner at home could stand alone as a reason to celebrate these days) and a cinnamon roll cake. Daddy is pretty much a celebrity around here and we are all thankful that he is ours!
I told Noah to go stand behind daddy. Always the funny guy.
Whew, 5 birthdays in 1 month! We are thankful for so much LIFE to celebrate! Please keep our sweet Selah in your prayers. It is likely that she has been born and is in Ethiopia waiting for a mommy and daddy. Our prayer is that she will be cared for and loved on until we can bring her home to her forever family. Please join us in that prayer. We hope to have her photo and be making plans for travel near the end of the year. We can't wait to meet her!
This past Sunday at church I had the honor of holding sweet baby Kaylee, one of the Thrasher twins, through the entire service. Don't tell Shon, but I had a hard time focusing on the sermon. I don't really know exactly how to describe it, but every time I hold one of those sweet girls I am overcome with a powerful emotion. The first time I held Grace, I just cried. I couldn't help it. And it was more than just the sweetness of a newborn baby. It was definitely more than that. And sitting there yesterday holding Kaylee, all I could think about was how I was holding my story in my arms. Kaylee and Grace are adopted. The story of their adoption is beautiful and full of God's grace. They were rescued from their circumstances and now they are a part of a family that gives them love never ending. That's my story. Ephesians 1:5 says that God decided in advance to adopt me into his own family by bringing me to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. He rescued me from my circumstances. Because He wanted to. And it gave him great pleasure! He has rescued me from me. He adopted me. I was an orphan. Now I'm a part of a family and the daughter of a Father that gives me love never ending. The 2 things that overwhelm me most when I hold Kaylee and Grace are this: They are so blessed and they are such a blessing. Yes they are blessed that they've been given this life with 2 great parents who love them SO much. But I believe even more the truth that they are a blessing to everyone who will know their story of God's grace and His hand in their lives. And that makes me wonder if I tend to stop at just being blessed sometimes. Or do I let the truth that I've been rescued be such a part of my story that when others come in contact with me they are faced with a powerful emotion? I wish I could answer that question with more confidence.
