Our sweet Mariah is eight years old! We had a lovely celebration with Grandpa and Grandma Mead and we took her horse-back riding for her special outing. Here are some photos from her birthday festivities.
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- Bagel birthday breakfast . . . opening a few presents and cards.
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- Mariah loves horses and was thrilled to get to ride a Shetland Pony out in the Wiltshire countryside. Peter and I walked (briskly!) along in front of the horses trying to keep ahead of them!
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- She even got to unsaddle her pony! God gave us a beautiful sunny day for the ride.
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- One of her birthday presents was a special horse coloring book.
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- And her cake had . . .you guessed it . . . a horse on it! Aliyah did most of the work on Mariah’s cake.
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- My sister asked Mariah how it felt to be eight and she said, “The same. Just more grown up.” 🙂 Eight is grown-up enough to cut and serve the cake for everyone.
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- After all that hard work, it’s finally time to eat some!
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- Mead girls – take one
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- Mead girls – take three!
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- Mead girls – take two
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- And here’s the mama with her sweet #3 girlie. Where have the last eight years gone?
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- We thank God for Mariah. Her smile and giggle are infectious and she has a giving heart that cares for others.
And the post wouldn’t be complete without a few Kaylah photos. She’s growing and changing so fast . . . she’s starting to copy our words and actions and generally wants to keep up with her siblings. Aliyah took her outside and let her play on our trike. She’s a bit little for it yet, but it won’t be long before she’s speeding around on it!
Hi everyone!
Gotta love that cheesy grin!
In my last post I asked for prayer for sleep and for the weekend conference and teaching Peter was doing. I really appreciate your prayers . . . sadly I had a really bad nights’ sleep before the conference which made the day tough and I ended up with a migraine at the end of it. But I still really enjoyed the day and God gave me the strength I needed even though I felt so despairing in the night. Peter had a great time at the UCCF weekend and his teaching seemed well-received. We are both currently really tired . . . we’ve had a busy weekend (last of the girls’ birthdays . . . watch this space for Hannah pics soon!) and Peter has been really snowed under with pressing admin tasks along with ministry prep and now has a really sore throat. Kaylah is teething and so last night was interrupted for me and I was already pretty wasted. Parenting and ministry are both full-on lifestyles . . . the reality is that we are often exhausted and sometimes discouraged for a variety of reasons. That doesn’t mean that serving God and our families is not worth it! Quite the contrary . . . those things most worth doing are often the most difficult. And in the midst of the struggles, God is showing His great power through our weaknesses.
A phrase from a verse has been spinning around in my head and I couldn’t remember where it was in the Bible . . . anyway, thanks to Bible software, I found it: 2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” I was excited to find the verse smack in the middle of one of my favorite passages . . . at least twice, Paul calls us to “not lose heart!” Outwardly we are wasting away but inwardly, we are being renewed day by day. When we feel utterly weak and at the end of our strength, God can show the world that the power we have is not from ourselves, but from Him. Nestled in our weak and frail bodies (jars of clay!), we have the greatest treasure – Christ Himself. Thank you Jesus, your presence and your power in our lives.
