Four Incredible Years

I can still remember standing on the left side of the congregation at First Family Church singing Kristian Stanfill’s One Thing Remains with tears streaming down my face. This state of emotion was almost guaranteed anytime his song came on five years ago. Five years ago our hearts yearned for a child to have and to hold. Five years ago in 2012 our hope was growing weary as we had been trying to have a child since 2008. Singing and meditating on Stanfill’s lyrics brought hope and reassurance of our God who loves us through any high or low in life. He loves us so much that He sent his son to die in our place – that is an amazing kind of love. We knew that no matter what, child or no child, that God’s love for us would hold us up.

Higher than the mountains that I face

Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing remains
Yes, one thing remains.

Your love never fails,

It never gives up
It never runs out on me.
 

We are so grateful to serve a God who is bigger than our trials and mountains that we face. He has it all under control – we have to learn to trust in His plan and timing. Fortunately for us, His perfect timing came in October of 2012 when I found out I was pregnant; and two weeks later that it was with twins. We were elated and thanked God for these blessings. Now these two little blessings are on the eve of their fourth birthday. FOUR! That is nearly as long as we prayed for them – which has gone drastically quicker than the years of praying and waiting. Nonetheless, we are amazed daily at the miracles that walk, dance, run, and jump around our house.

 We often play music in the background at home and we also have it on in the van when going to and fro. In the past couple of months Grace and Kalei have been requesting to listen to One Thing Remains. They picked up on the lyrics quickly and joyfully sing along in the van or in the house. My favorite memory thus far of them and this song is when they chose to put on a show for us in the basement. Cole, Bo, and I eagerly awaited this show and had no idea what it would all entail. Kalei burst onto the scene standing on a brown pillow as her stage and began signing, “Your love never fails it never give up, it never runs out on me.” As Kalei sang, Grace danced and twirled around and even stopped to get high-fives from the crowd. When Kalei’s solo was over it was Grace’s turn to take the stage on the brown pillow. She proceeded to also sing, “Your love never fails it never give up, it never runs out on me.” Kalei spun around and showcased her dance moves while Grace sang. I about melted. As I sat there on our couch it was surreal to see the song that we sang, meditating on, and praised God with had come to life in front of our eyes. When Grace and Kalei concluded their shows we told them just how awesome and special the song is to us. Now, when it comes on or they request to hear it they often remind us, “This is the song that you sang when you were praying for us to be born.” Needless to say, we love some Kristian Stanfill around here.

 

 

 

On the eve of their fourth birthday I was curious to hear what the girls think of each other. I asked Grace, “What do you love most about your sister, Kalei?” She responded, “When she makes me happy.” I asked, “How does she make you happy?” Grace said, “When she listens to my ideas and when she talks to me.”

I asked Kalei, “What do you love most about your sister, Grace?” She responded, “That she lets me play with her.” I asked, “What do you like to do with her?” Kalei said, “I like playing with the princess castle with her.”

They are best friends, yet very different and unique. Their responses to the questions I asked showcases their personalities pretty well. Grace prefers to be the leader and make up most of the games they play together; while Kalei is more flexible and goes along with the flow easier. I would say 80 percent of the time they play together nicely, while the other 20 percent there is a feud of some sort. The conversations they have while playing crack me up. They are creative and have big imaginations; it is fun to see how the make believe together. Differences aside, they both love their sister, and truly are best friends.

I love birthdays! Tomorrow we will celebrate Grace and Kalei from sun up (because why would anyone ever sleep past 6:30 anyway?) to sun down. They have requested a butterfly cake – so we will see what I can pull off!

We are so grateful that God chose us to be the parents of these girls. They fill up our hearts with joy day in and day out. Praise the Lord for answered prayers.

“Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” – Genesis 18:14

 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21