Dear Loren,

As I think about your upcoming graduation my heart is full. You, precious girl, have been a gift to me from the very hand of God. How can I put into words how blessed I am that God has put you in my life?


I longed for a daughter and my heart was broken as I knew He was asking me to surrender that dream to Him with the knowledge that His good and perfect will might not look the way I thought it should. In that moment, I heard Him say that He had given me a gift. He gave me you! You are my dear friend, my precious sister, my chipmunk daughter. I love you like you are mine! Lee, Hunter, and Braden love you like you are theirs. The Lord has grafted you into our little family. Whether you like it or not, you are ours forever! You are our girl!

I am so proud of the woman you are becoming...who you have become. You are not only beautiful on the outside, you are even more beautiful on the inside! I'm inspired by your love for the Lord and your desire to serve Him with everything in you. You seek Him with a desperation and maturity beyond your years. You have endured deep pain and hardship with unbelievable grace and dignity, becoming more like Christ daily in the midst of it. You conduct yourself with modesty and purity always. You are quite a catch, as many young men have noticed, yet you are saving that title of "girlfriend" for the one God has for you, and you seek Him in that. You don't care to fill your time with fleeting relationships or dates to fill an empty Friday night. Have I mentioned I'm beyond proud of you? You are a precious treasure. You make me laugh, even when I don't want to. You make me think. Our conversations about things of the Lord, challenge me and make me want to know Him more fully. Your joy, enthusiasm, and laughter are contagious. You are so funny!


Sweet girl, continue to seek Him with everything in you. Keep laser-focused on Him. Obey Him and follow Him, even when it seems crazy. You are beyond valuable, continue living like it! Throw all your cares on Him for He cares for you! I want you to know, without a doubt, that I pray for you daily, that I love you always, that I will forever be pro-Loren, and that we are on the same team. I can't wait to see the amazing plans that our God has for you, the adventures He has in store!


I love you deeply and I am intensely proud of you!

Your Sister, Friend, and Chipmunk Mama,

Sara

Yesterday I read two blog posts that spoke to my heart deeply. I havent been able to stop thinking about them.

One was on the (in)courage website ~ http://www.incourage.me/2010/12/

The other was on A Holy Experience, which if you don't read regularly you should! ~ http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/04/how-hurting-women-can-help-each-other-heal/

Both are MUST reads.

Last weekend, I went to Living Proof Live in Little Rock. It was life-changing and a weekend that I won't ever forget. The theme was Fulfilling Your Ministry...which couldn't have been more timely! The Lord spoke so clearly.
I realized that I have wounds from past friendships...deep ones, that I put a temporary bandage over and tried to forget about. He had to do some deep cleaning in my heart to get rid of the festering infection that was under it all. But a deep cleaning He did, and the healing process has begun.
I think that that is why these two blog posts spoke to me so deeply. I get it. I've lived it.
I don't want to put up walls against close friendship. I don't want to keep people at arms length. I don't want to inflict further harm on others. I don't want to wound another sister warrior with my careless words.
I want true God-honoring friendships. I want to fight shoulder-to-shoulder, making sure that my words are an encouragement to those surrounding me. I want to stand up and defend those already wounded. I want to love just as God has called me to love, like He does!

Colossians 1:9-14 (The Message)

"Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works.

We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.

We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us. God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating. "

Let it be so LORD! Thank you Jesus!!!

Lying

Last night my boy was caught in a lie. Caught red-handed and I was so grateful. I pray everyday that if my children are straying from God's perfect will that they will be caught by Lee or I. The circumstances surrounding the lie and how he was caught is a personal matter between him, his parents, and the Lord. But God used that circumstance to give me a mirror image of how I behave with Him.

The excuses ~ "But...but...I didn't think you meant THAT!" "Oooohhhh...I forgot." "I didn't mean to" "Wait wait, see what I meant by that was..." "I didn't think you meant NOW." "I didn't lie...I just didn't tell whole truth." "I wanted to obey you, but..." "It's really not my fault"

As a mom, these excuses drive me batty.

However, last night as Lee and I doled out the very necessary discipline required for lying, the Lord spoke into my heart..."Sara, you do the exact same thing to Me. You read My Word, you hear My voice and you don't obey. You give Me every excuse in the book why you didn't do what I told you to do, why you didn't keep the promises you made to Me. I'm telling you now Sara, obey Me. No excuses. I mean it."
As my boy...weeping...prayed, "Jesus, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for being disobedient and for being a liar.", his mommy...weeping...prayed the exact same thing.

Conviction

When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. ~ CS Lewis

Isaiah 48:17-18 "This is what the LORD, your Redeemer,the Holy One of Israel says: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commands. Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea."

Isaiah 50:4-5 "...Morning by morning He awakens me; He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward."

LORD, Amen and Let this be so in my life! Thank you for conviction.

Random

My brain is super scattered today. Not sure a indepth blog post would make much sense, so a post on my random thoughts will have to do. I apologize in advance! :)

~ The Lord has been speaking to me a lot about freedom lately and all that entails! And I mean SPEAKING! Specifically regarding Galatians 5:1 and Hebrews 12:1-2. That is going to have to be a post all on its own.

~ My hubby ran his first half-marathon over the weekend! He came in 6th place out of about a thousand runners and ran it in 1:22:07! He's my hero! ~ Lee's cousin and her two kids came from Kentucky to run the race as well! I had never met them and it was a joy getting to know them, even though our visit was way too short. I think it's such a delight to meet family and immediately love them like you've known them forever! So fun!! They were only here for a day and a half and I can't wait til next time!

~ I haven't bitten my nails in about three weeks! They have never been this long and I'm super proud of myself. I think I may have kicked a 29 year habit!!!

~ I have found that I use way too many exclamation points when I write. I'm trying to cut back! ;)

~ I have a new Words with Friends obsession! LOVE it! And I'm pretty good, if I do say so myself! ;)

~ I'm completely caught up with laundry...for now...April 6th at 2:35pm...it won't last long.

~ My laundry detergent ran out right after I threw in my last load! How's that for great timing? And why is it that although you may buy laundry detergent and fabric softener at the same time, they never run out at the same time? That kinda gets on my nerves...in a very "I know it shouldn't matter" kind of way! haha


That's all for now. I warned you ahead of time that it would be random...I live up to my word! :)