Footprints in the sand...

Dear Laura,
Alot has been going on around here as you can probably tell from my lack of letters lately. I'm so sorry that I have not been better at keeping up at this. I know I say that in practically every letter, but I mean it! From now on, I'll stop promising to write more often because then I end up not doing what I promise, and I make myself look like a liar ;) So, I will TRY to write more often hehe Anyway.....

Things have been stressful for us lately. Fundraising for Auttie has been fun, but not bringing in the amount of funds that we need. With limited help, we are trying to do our best to trust in God to provide. God has brought some AMAZING people to our family recently, though, that have been willing to help us bring her home. So with that, along with some other things going on right now, I feel like life is a bit overwhelming at times.....

I know that hard times pass, and better days are just around the corner. I also know that we serve a BIG God who is bigger than any of these financial or personal problems that we are dealing with in life right now.

Whenever life hands me more than I feel I can deal with, God always steps right in. He sends me a song, a text from a friend, or something that reminds me that He is here with us and that He cares. Not that I didn't already know that, but sometimes Sissy is stubborn and needs to be reminded.

Ever since I can remember, "Footprints" has been my favorite poem. It paints a beautiful picture of God's love for us and his loyality to His children. The poem is about a guy who is walking along a beach, and he sees two sets of footprints in the sand, but during the hardest parts of his life, he only sees one set of footprints.

So, he begins questioning God. He asks Him why He left him at the hardest parts of his life when he needed Him the most. God replies, "When you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

I've always loved that part. It's such a beautiful thing to picture, and such a great reminder for me. Well, like I said, God always sends me comfort in the form of a poem, a song, a text, something, and this time, He used this very poem. I was looking at business cards the other day and was trying to think of a name for my photography business at the same time. I came across business cards that had a picture of footprints in the sand. They immediately caught my attention, and it made me think of the poem.

Then, that night or the very next day, a friend of mine left a comment on one of my Facebook statuses with a quote from that very poem. God reminded me of my favorite poem twice within a short amount of time. He is trying to remind me that I am not alone. That He is here with me now, even through the tough times. Not only is He just here with me, but He is carrying me.

Baby girl, I want you to always know that I am here for you. No matter what. I also want you to know that above all, GOD is always here for you. I know that life will get tough. I know that you will go through hard times. Everybody does. But...you will NOT be alone. Joy WILL come in the morning. I know that you are only 20 months old right now, and you don't have a worry in the world. One day, when you will be old enough to read this, you will. It's a part of life.

Anyway, enough with the serious stuff, let's get to the good stuff ;) You have been doing SO much lately! Two nights ago, you started climbing stairs. Well, you've been climbing a step or two for a while, but that night you just took off. You climbed our whole flight of stairs, quickly. Mommy was behind you the whole time to make sure that you wouldn't fall.

You have been signing alot lately, and you've also learned how to say two new words. When you want more food, you usually grunt at us to give it to you. Now that you know how to sign "more" and "please", grunting just does not do the trick anymore. If I am feeding you, and I'm not feeding you as quickly as you'd like, you start grunting at me. I look at you, and say "What do you say?" and you sign "more" or "please" to me. It is the cutest thing EVER and it's teaching you some manners ;)

You know how to say "Dada" now, too. Not the typical "Dadadadada" anymore. That's not the only word you've learned lately.......
You also have just recently started saying "done" as you sign "all done". Are you smart or what??

I could not be any more proud of you, bug. You are beautiful, strong, smart, sassy, sweet, and so many more things all wrapped up into one tiny packeage :)

I love you to the moon and back 1,000 times x 10!

Love,
Sissy