Happy Birthday Sophia! (part 1)

No, I can't believe it either. How did a year go by? I feel like I was just meeting her, looking into those bright eyes for the first time. In some ways, it feels like years have gone by. She is so familiar to me now. Life before having her seems foggier, harder to remember. And in other ways, I feel like it has flown by, and here she is nearly walking and talking, and I'm left breathless.

We wanted to plan a birthday party that would be here at our home, out in the sunshine, with all of our friends and family together. And that's just what happened- it was a beautiful day in so many ways. Here are some pictures:

Lord, we love you and thank you for our sweet girl. She is beautiful to us! Thank you for creating her just the way you did. Thank you for her health and vitality over the past year. Thank you for her sweet personality: her spunk and energy, her adventurous spirit, her curiosity, her easy going nature, and the trust she has in us.

We ask you for your continued blessing of health in her second year. And we plead for the health of her soul. We pray that her heart and mind would be ignited by the truth of the gospel. We pray that she will find Jesus to be beautiful, his love irresistible. We pray that seeds planted, even now, would find fertile soil so that in the coming years, belief and trust will blossom from them. This is a work only you can do, God, so we ask that you would do it, and that you would do it quickly! Continue to teach us how to bring her up in the way of salvation, with grace and love abounding. We love you God! Amen.