it's no secret

...this little girl has stolen my heart. 

 She came home from the hospital after 21 days! Her host family is so happy to have her with them and they have all transitioned quite well to having her home. The boys are very sweet with her.  It is such a blessing to be able to see her with such a wonderful family and I feel so privileged that I've been able to be so involved.

Her health is improving and it shows. She has been all smiles lately.

And all she wants to do is play, play, play. 

She had blood work this week and everything came back great. She is infection free! She has a little while to go on a blood thinner due to the clot and infection from her first PICC line. Then she has to wait a few weeks to let it run its course. Hopefully by then all things will look good and ready for her heart surgery.

Yesterday, we  had quite the treat. We got to take this little one to the pool!

 She LOVED it!

 You could see her trying to figure it out and put her hands under the water and through it. After a month with no baths because of all the IVs and catheters I bet this felt pretty great!

 A ladybug came for a visit.

We all had a blast. My sister came with the little girl she nannies for and I loved having them there. Sonia's "big brothers" had a great time, but I am pretty sure I had more fun watching all the kids play!

Don't you think the picture of Sonia and her host mom above is one of the most precious you've ever seen?

Please keep praying for Sonia's health to improve and for her upcoming heart surgery. Please pray that she is adopted into a loving home, in which she will thrive physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And pray that the laws in Haiti might become a bit more lenient in order for it to become easier for families like Sonia's host family to adopt from their orphanages. And you should just start praying for me, too. The day is going to come when she has to go back to Haiti. And my heart can't take the thought of not knowing where she is going to end up and how she is doing! 

God has been so gracious to those of us who've had the chance to invest in her life. She is easy to love.

they are that good

Feast your eyes on my new favorite snack dinner side dish!

GARLIC ROASTED POTATOES

We were in charge of bringing some kind of potato dish to our community group dinner the other night. Andrew found the recipe and I did the cooking. It was a hit. They scraped the pan clean that night.

Sooooooo....

We had to make them again because they were THAT good. And this time we were in the kitchen together.

Now go get yourself a 3 lb bag of those cute, little red potatoes. Rinse them real good.

Quarter them up.

Over on the other counter....take out a big bowl and pour in a 1/4 cup of good olive oil,

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,

and 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt.

Now for the fun part. Enter garlic! Please tell me you love the cousin to the onion! Andrew wouldn't touch it when we first got married, but luckily he has quickly acquired a taste for the good stuff. When you are out buying your red potatoes, be sure to pick up a garlic peeler if you don't already own one. It makes life so much easier when you are peeling 6 {yes, 6!} cloves of garlic. The clove comes out all pretty like. A garlic press will also be quite helpful, so add that to your grocery list. You're going to peel and press 6 cloves of garlic into the big bowl.

Then you're going to mix it all up and make it look gorgeous. Like this.

Go on back to the other counter and pick up your quartered potatoes and put them all into that big bowl. 

And mix everything up really, really well. Don't leave one, single potato uncovered. And be sure that you don't have all the garlic hanging out in one place. Spread the love!

Dump them out into a roasting pan. Be sure to get every last drop, speck, and particle from that bowl into your pan! Then spread everything out and cover that pan with the oil mixture and potatoes.

Now you're going to stick them in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour. Set the timer for 20 minute intervals because you're going to want to make sure to flip the potatoes to ensure even roasting. 

Now on Saturday night I popped them in the oven and went to read on the couch. While I was learning and relaxing the hubby was up to something...

He told me that he was going to get chicken for the grill when he left for the store. So I naturally assumed he was out there grilling chicken, but that was not the case, my friends, that was not the case.

He was grilling these bad boys. And let me tell you something...that steak nearly changed my life. It was sooooooo good! {Please notice the Master Griller's perfectly proportioned and skilled diamond sears on the steak. Oh yeah!}

Then when the hour was up I took these beauties out of the oven.

And this is how we dined on Saturday night. Better {and cheaper} than any steakhouse in town. 

After Saturday evening, I maybe might have been seen snacking on those potatoes a lot. Maybe. 

If you maybe might want to snack on them, too, then go here for the recipe.  It called for parsley, but we left it out. To each his own.

Happy Roasting!

"learning requires practice"

This list is really important to me. I would like to tell you why. But I think Ann communicates it far better than I, so I will give you quotes from her book that I relate to so well. It was like she was talking about me, for me.

"...the list, it feels foreign, strange. Long, I am woman who speaks but one language, the language of the fall -- discontentment and self-condemnation, the critical eye and the never satisfied." -pg 46

"I almost don't see it, but Paul repeats it twice in only two sentences, so I don't miss it:

I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little." (Philippians 4:11-12)

I read it many times, groping for the latch.
There it is -- the secret to living joy in every situation, the full life of eucharisteo{grace. thanksgiving. joy.} Twice Paul whispers it: 'I have learned...' Learned. I would have to learn eucharisteo. Learn eucharisteo -- learn it to live fully." -pg 47

My default is to grumble and to complain. To cry out, "Why me?" in the most trivial of circumstances when I step back to really look at the bigger picture. So what changes a heart like that? This. This joy found in God's Word and in His Presence. His Grace. And my choosing to say, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." for loving me and gifting me with sweet moments and terrible moments, both of which bring me to my knees and closer to His Heart.

 But it's a fight sometimes a lot of the time to have such discipline. To choose to be grateful. To stop and take the time to acknowledge the gift. So I'm practicing and I'm learning.

DISCLAIMER: Most of the pictures in this post were taken with an iPhone, and an old one at that, so the quality of most of these pictures is not so pretty. But it's the thought that counts.

180. - 228.

spending another night with Sonia at the hospital; playing with her; her smiles

His healing hand

friends in Miami

being home with Andrew after a night away

hearing how Trinity missed me & cried at the door when I didn't come home

feeling good about working out

Sonia finally released from the hospital

the pretty red cardinal on the gate

kitty cat in laundry basket

blogging about BSF

reflecting on Isaiah 

cooking dinner

bringing dinner over to Sonia's host family and hanging out/playing with the whole family

making Sonia smile and holding her most of the night

inspiring blogs

feeling accomplished after filing and organizing

Trinity wanting to be held and her little cat kisses

catching up with Kellie and Jorge

cooking a new recipe well

dinner with our community group

"making his day" with one simple text

laughing and playing with Andrew

kissing on his lunch break

another nap with a sweet kitty in the crook of my arm

3 nights in a row of hanging out with great people/Kellie, Jorge, and Stacey came over tonight

catching up with Cynthia on the phone

waking up well rested

morning walk and talk with my love

sunshine through trees and a backdrop of blue skies

evidence of new life

washing dishes together

afternoon nap with the hubby

cooking those delicious potatoes again, together

Andrew surprising me with delicious grilled steak {and I thought he'd been grilling chicken}

warm and crispy chocolate chip cookies dipped in milk

finding lots of inspiration/ideas on Pinterest {may need intervention. gratitude turned prayer request. ha.}

smiles and laughter from the husband

another morning walk

school of minnows jumping because of a chase

singing at church

singing/praying Healer for Sonia

holding and feeding Sonia after church -- IN church!

a red, ripe, sweet{est} strawberry

another long walk and talk

going through "Tuesday's" questions

a pretty yellow "weed"

the light from a sunset bouncing off walls, windows, and water

a pink sunset
hearing and processing through a sermon {Grace Now} on a passage I never really understood

the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook

I am linking up with Jessi over at Naptime Diaries today for another 1% Change. I cannot tell a lie. I fell into "the depths of despair" for one reason and another then totally fell off the bandwagon with my previous 1% Changes. But I am back at it and it feels good. On to the latest change/improvement...

Once a long, long time ago I read a chapter in Proverbs a day. One chapter for the corresponding day of the month. {Today is the 19th so this morning I read Chapter 19.} I loved it then, but once I completed the book I stopped.

Lately, I have been trying to figure out how to put God time first thing in the morning. The reason it has been so difficult for me is...  I have to work out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It's how my body rolls and I've got to go with it. It is what works for me. But if I get up and spend my usual time in The Word I end up stark raving mad with hunger and it makes the working out on an empty stomach kind of an issue. Plus I don't want to feel rushed through my quiet time to get to a work out. So here is where the Proverb a day comes in...

I can totally wake up, sit up in bed, read a chapter in Proverbs, pray a bit, and then work out. I feel like I have started my day in the right way on the right food and that I've got my priorities straight. Then I work out and listen to worship music while I get ready for the rest of the day. When I sit down for breakfast I go back and read the Bible again, sometimes I read the chapter in Proverbs a second time through and sometimes I read something different.  If there is time then I can do my Bible study/prayer time before I head out the door or I can come back to it later when I get home.

This routine really sets the tone for the whole day and I really, really like it. So this new routine is my 1% Change of late.  

 

   

BSF edition

This blog post covers numbers 150.-159. on my way to counting up to One Thousand Gifts.

I have committed to posting the things that I am thankful for and sharing them here with a community of bloggers. Usually I literally copy the list from my journal onto a post, but this week I am going to have to devote an entire post to BSF because my heart simply cannot contain all the gratitude and joy from my experience within a list. So much can be said about what BSF has meant to me so I will do my best to organize my thoughts here. Whenever I doubt my decision not to teach this year and stay home I think of BSF and my doubts vanish. The Wednesday mornings from this last September until this May were meant to be spent at BSF for me; in a classroom that did not belong to me.

The ladies at BSF and my discussion group:

The ladies in my discussion group were such beautiful encouragers to me. Most of them probably have no idea I feel that way. I have always been a talker, a person who wears their heart on their sleeve and just might share too much. But this year in my group I found myself to be so quiet. God was prompting this silence for my heart. I needed to listen more this year than share. So I did. Most weeks I may have said one thing here or there, but for the most part I sat and listened and soaked it all in. The wisdom, passion, sorrow, struggle, faith, and humility of these women were the water for my soul and they allowed me to grow.

Each week I sat in a sanctuary with 400+ women and surveyed the room with awe and wonder. Here we all were because we shared the same longing. We were desperate to know more of our Lord and His Word and we felt and knew that Wednesday mornings were hallowed ground for our travel weary hearts. We came together, a sisterhood, who may not have recognized one another's faces, but who recognized one another's heart hunger. That is something so sweet and so dear to me. A room of 400+ women, who sing praises and promises together on Wednesday mornings in preparation for an eternity when we will all come together and do it again.

The Children's Program:

I don't have children of my own yet, but I cannot sing the praises of the children's program at BSF enough! I volunteered in the kids classes and witnessed first-hand how incredible the teaching of these tender hearts is at BSF. I loved watching the teachers share the stories, lead discussions, pray for and with the kids, and sing songs. There is nothing more precious than a toddler talking excitedly about Jesus! I also have the privilege of calling a BSF mom, friend, and she shared story after story of the things her kids were learning, discussing, and applying to their lives at the ripe old age of 2 and 3. I am excited and hopeful that I will be a mom someday, and when that day comes I will be so eager to bring them with me to BSF.

Please visit my friend's blog and read her account of what the children's program has meant to her and her family. You will be blessed!

My wonderful leader and Barbara:

The leadership at BSF has ministered to my heart in a way that will leave a lasting impact. I have been encouraged, challenged, humbled, and inspired by them. My discussion leader was a constant source of encouragement to me. She always had words of wisdom and a story to share that helped us relate to one another. I looked forward to her calls each week, and was always so disappointed when I missed them. Her peace and calm spoke volumes to me. She taught me so much.

Then there are the teaching leaders who lecture each Wednesday morning. They are incredible women of faith whose insights and gift for communication blessed me so much each week. I wish every woman in the area would come to experience the lecture for yourself. You will feel as though you've gained a friend who is speaking right into your life wherever you're at.  

Friendships that have blossomed:

BSF has been a blessing in the friend department, too. God brought some seriously sweet friends into my life through this year's study. I, like the Israelites in the desert with Moses, was grumbling and heart heavy because I did not have what I felt like I needed. And though He did not have to, He sent me manna straight from Heaven in the form of beautiful encouragers. I longed for deeper friendships. I longed for real conversations. I longed to talk about and hear about the moving and changing God was doing in another woman's life. Those are my favorite type of conversations and I had gone so long without. But that all changed this year when God brought me to BSF and gifted me with one friend who manages to look like the cover of an Anthro catalogue while chasing 3 under the age of 4 with grace and another friend who's smile and joy makes her more beautiful and radiant with each coffee date. I am blessed to call them my friends! 

God's Word and His character:

The most valuable gain through BSF was spending so much time each week really delving into the Word. Isaiah is an incredible book and I learned so much. I learned some history. I learned how faithful God has always been. I've learned about who He is in greater depth and I find that I love Him more now than ever before. I have more faith and trust in Him than ever before. I have a greater peace in seeing the evidences of His sovereignty and His great love throughout the book of Isaiah because I know that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever more. Words cannot adequately express how sweet it is has been to camp out in the book of Isaiah and hear God whisper right into my soul.

pink elephants & a bond that will last a lifetime

*Warning: Some of the fashion statements you will see in the pictures below will leave you extremely inspired and may leave you in a state of wonder. I wish I could direct you to the amazing clothing store, Spiral, circa 1992, but they are no longer. 

Today marks a special occasion. Today my B.F.F. from elementary school to now celebrates her birthday. Adri will do it in Chicago with friends and her hubby, and I will do it in South Florida by reflecting on how wonderful she is and what a blessing her life has been to mine. I love her! There is no one in the world who knows my history like she does and that is something just so darn special! It all began with some drama in the 4th Grade. Her best friend and my best {fair-weather} friend conspired against us and we had to come together. The rest is history. Adri and her family dubbed me Shaebae way back when we were 10 and it's always been one of my favorite terms of endearment. That's where Shaebae in the URL of this blog comes from. 

We've been through it all together. Hurricane Andrew...I'll never forget being worried about each other. The power was out for weeks and many streets were impassable. I remember being so relieved when I saw her across a field near her home when my mother and I went searching for her and her family. She came running across the field on roller skates. The things we remember! That year we both lived in trailers on our front lawns and went to school in trailers as our homes and our city were being rebuilt. Crazy, but good times. That was the year our friendship really grew and blossomed.

Hurricane Andrew may have been a natural disaster that went down in the record books, but I am convinced it had nothing on the boys we survived. Survived! Oh, the dramas! We went through our first crushes, first dates, first loves, first heart aches, and first heart breaks together. And then some. We giggled, we cried, we argued, we consoled, and we advised throughout the years when it came to the opposite sex. No one. NO ONE knows the corny love songs we would swoon to or the way we cried sobbed when it was "over". And no one can really share in the joy {quite the same way} of finding real love and good men after all that we've been through.

 

Aside from hurricanes and boy drama, we have been through some seriously tough health problems and heart issues together, too. We have spent hours upon hours on the phone since 4th Grade and hours upon hours writing each other notes and cards and emails since then too. Then there are all the hours spent in coffee shops and late night conversations at the gazillion sleep-overs throughout the years. We have been there for each other as we relay some of the ugliness we find in our own hearts and lives and we have helped each other find the beauty in it, in us. It is such a blessing to have a friend who truly shares in your hurts and in your triumphs and joy. And it's safe to say that we have shared many a tear for the other in such circumstances.

 I am pretty certain that no two friends have watched Ace Ventura more than we have. There's nothing like going to the Youth Fair and riding on all the rides screaming silly inside jokes at the top of your lungs with your B.F.F. There is nothing like getting a note passed in class to you with the pretty penmanship and trademark flower on it from her. And there is nothing like the memories of getting ready for my wedding day with her by my side or watching her laugh on hers. There are few people in the world you can be totally yourself with -- the good, the real, the honest, the ugly, the goofy -- and I am so glad I've got someone to be all those things with.

Happy Birthday, Adri! May this year be one of the very best yet! I miss you bunches and I love you oodles!

update on sonia

This sweet baby girl still needs your prayers. She was supposed to have surgery two weeks ago, but cannot get this surgery until she has a clean bill of health. Her body is still fighting an infection and the doctors expect her to be on a constant drip of antibiotics for the next two weeks. That in and of itself is frustrating, but what makes it harder is that her little body can't handle a PICC line. A PICC line would be better for her for two reasons...1. The antibiotics would be administered through the line more efficiently and would avoid her having to be pricked numerous times all over the place as her IV is changed every couple of days since the veins collapse. 2. It would allow her to come home with her host family, making her more comfortable and making their lives a lot less chaotic. They could have a nurse come to their home to administer the antibiotics.

The problem with the PICC line is that they tried it a week ago, but it caused a new infection and a blood clot. They had to remove it and are telling Sonia's host mom that they can't risk it again. This means she will remain in the hospital for another two weeks minimum. That is two weeks of coordinating around the clock care for her. Some one to feed her, change diapers, and love on her. Sonia's host family is busy with two young boys and daily life, thus the trek back and forth to the hospital each day and the stress and worry over her health is taking it's toll on them.

The blessing is that there are many people who are coming together to care for Sonia and for her host family. Many of us take shifts at the hospital, bring meals to her host family, and babysit the boys so that Sonia's host mommy can take care of her or some errands. We have such a presence in the hospital that staff and other families are taking notice of the community that has gathered for a young orphan who would otherwise not have much hope. There are people all over the world praying for her. Will you join us?

Will you pray that the Lord would continue to provide for Sonia's care in the hospital and that people would continue to spend time with her so that she never has to be alone? Will you pray that Sonia's host family be blessed, renewed, revived, and cared for as they care for this sweet girl? Will you pray for Sonia's little body to be completely healed? And for the doctors and nurses who give her care to be filled with wisdom and compassion? Will you pray for her future...that Sonia would become healthy and strong and that she would be adopted into a forever home soon?

P.S. That smile you see there is for Andrew. She loves him way more than she loves me! And it is so darn cute!

multiplying joy

"Thanks is what multiplies the joy and makes any life large, and I hunger for it." -Ann Voskamp

This week has been crazy, hence the lack of blogging! I have to say, I really look forward to Mondays because it's the day of the week that I recount all of the things I was especially thankful for the previous 7 days and it reminds me that life is really, really good even when I think it's not so.

97.-139.

waking up in my own bed

see-you-later kisses

missing Andrew

Andrew getting out board games after work/him making me smile/laughing

beautiful singing voices

the chapter interviews with Ann Voskamp

reading/absorbing/processing One Thousand Gifts

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

hope for the future

petting Maddy Bell

hard conversations

longing for his touch and warmth

studying the book of Isaiah

singing Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

encouragement and hugs from a friend

Martha's teaching

Isaiah 26:3

candle light and bubble baths

playing Wii Resort with Kellie and laughing

Leah Lou's silliness and laughter

sunshine

finding a new doctor that I like

visiting Sonia

hanging out with Emelyne

tutoring at Touching Miami with Love

running into Aunt Kathy at the mall

winning a Bible verse print from Naptime Diaries

spending Andrew's lunch break with him and stealing some kisses

sitting on the porch with Maddy Bell and reading

getting things done around the house
reading Proverbs

spending an evening with great friends for a movie under the stars

kitty cat kisses

catching up and laughing with an old friend on the phone
lazy Saturday afternoon
intimacy
last minute late night movie with friends
patience
good food
skyping with Alexa and my in-laws
celebrating Mother's Day

dinner and playing the Wii with family

the Pioneer Woman's Life by Chocolate cupcakes {the baking & the eating}

"...they are just the common things and maybe I don't even know they are gifts really until I write them down and that is really what they look like. Gifts He bestows. This writing it down -- it is sort of like...unwrapping love." -Ann Voskamp