Sarah's Sweet Sixteen

To have a birthday in our house is a big deal. It takes a lot of planning and thought. (We love to celebrate every occasion that we can.) But a sixteenth birthday is special. It marks the official passage from little girl to big girl, even though for Sarah, she has been a part of the "big girl group" for years.

We had hard time deciding the perfect thing. She's uncomfortable with a lot of attention and didn't want a real party. Someone gave me the idea of a "blessing luncheon." The idea is to have women who have been most influential in her life come over and give her words of wisdom and encouragement for her life. I asked each of them to be prepared to tell her something they wish they had known themselves when they were sixteen. I should have recorded the things that were said! How encouraging and sweet. She was given scripture verses and words that I hope she will always take with her. Parenting is a full time job, but there are many people in our children's lives that can influence them for the good. (I wish I had remembered to take a group picture of all of them.) Some of the truths that these ladies encouraged her with:

• God never changes, your station in life will, but He doesn't


• Guard your heart


• Flea youthful lusts, pursue godliness


• Trust your parents


• Be content with what God desires for you


• Psalm 37:4

Sarah's dear friend, Rachel Carr from Knoxville, came to spend the week and celebrate with us too. I love their friendship. They have very similar personalities and get along great. Rachelcarr (that's what everyone at our house calls her) fits into our family so wonderfully and is growing in godliness alongside Sarah. It's a blessings to have friendships that you can see are encouraging and helpful to each other.

Later in the evening Sarah had a few friends come over and they had picture wars and a rave. That was a lot of fun too. The next morning Hannah drove them over to the lake and I guess it's obvious what they ended up doing then......