Turning the Page

Reflecting on the past year tonight... 
It's my last day of being 16, and the year has been absolutely amazing.  It has honestly been the best year of my life - two mission trips (one still in progress!), a brand new school, a whole lot of growth, and a boatload of memories.  The year has been incredible!  

 The only thing that's getting me is that it actually is almost my birthday.  It is so odd to think about – even the fact that this is July is hard to wrap my head around.  I’ve subconsciously been beginning to look forward to Christmas... in July.  

The cold weather fools me into thinking that it is October or November, and snuggling down, under a million blankets every night only affirms the delusion.  But tomorrow is 

July 3, and I seventeen I will be. 

 It hit me yesterday that it will me my last year of childhood, as well as my last childhood birthday.  Makes me want to cry a little bit – little me is actually growing up.  

But I am excited.  

Tomorrow morning I will wake up, probably sweating from all the blankets, and smile because it will be my birthday.   Then I’ll hear Stanley screaming out, “Good morning, Bethsaida!  How’d you sleeep?”  And I’ll smile and be so thankful for my two “brothers”, one Swiss and one South African, and the trio we make.  

I’ll bake cookies from the recipe I found on Pinterest today and sit down to coffee and a little pow-wow with Jesus.  Then we’ll head out to church at 11, and I’ll get a little teary as I realize that it will be my last Sunday at His People for while.  But soon enough I’ll be grinning again and praising Jesus for another year. 

Turning 17 in South Africa - how's that for a special birthday?!  After church we'll head out to Ms. Kitty house and she'll give me a huge hug saying, "Good morning, sister!  Good morning!"and I will be so happy because I just love that lady and her beautiful, beautiful heart.  Ms.  Dorah will be there in all of her spunk and personality, and make me laugh with her silliness.  Sweet little John will be there as well, and melt my heart a million times over with the sweetness of his.  And I'll smile and thank God for life and how beautiful he has made it.  My God is good, and I am so thankful for another year to see more and more of Him and His power.  Bring it on, seventeen! 

A Glimpse of Nicaragua - the Trip that Shattered my Life

You guys, my days are so full in this season of life.

But right now, I feel like my heart is even fuller.

Life isn't a piece of cake these days, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I want to catch all of you up on Nicaragua, but in this season of life,

the days run short and my thoughts run long.

But Nicaragua did change my life.

Completely and entirely.

My heart was shattered there, and I flew back to America feeling like my life was laying in a thousand pieces around me.  

Those days were not easy.

But they CHANGED MY LIFE in a way nothing else has ever before.  

Every aspect of life is different now, and I'm almost certain that's just how God planned it to be.  

I'll get into all the in's and out's of the trip someday, but for now,

watch this video.

Please.

This video chronicles the highlights of the trip that changed me forever.

JOY

"Be truly glad!  

For there is great joy ahead..."

1 Peter 1:6

A Taste of Africa

These precious girls and the rest of the African Children's Choir were incredible!  

It was such a blessing to have them come to Reimage Church to sing and give us a taste of the beauty Uganda. 

My heart is in Africa these days.

Plans are in the works, dreams are becoming realities, and best of all, God is working.

And the joy of hosting these sweet girls and "Auntie Dorthy" was icing on the cake.

I thank God for their resiliency and grace after a crazy morning like the one we had...

But just like my new friend, Ms. Tina, said, "No matter what happens, these kids will bounce back."

So true.  I witnessed it.

Their joy was contagious, their smiles were countless, and their heart for the Lord is to be envied.

At 7-9 years old, they have a boldness for and trust in God that far exceeds that of many adults. 

These girls are a joy, and they are changing the world... one song at a time. 

"When I was in my mother's womb, you knew me.  Before I was born, you set me apart." 

- Jeremiah 1:5 

  

That Moment...

The second my eyes rest on this picture, I'm back in that moment.

I can still feel that sweet little girl in my arms.  

I can still see her sweet little face, and I will forever treasure the moment when her sweet brown eyes met and held my own.  

Even through just glimpsing this photograph, I am overwhelmed with an indescribable feeling of love for that baby girl.  For her, her mother, her village, her country, and the rest of the world. 

To have the privilege of sharing my Lord with the nations of the world is my constant prayer and undying dream.

To change the world for Jesus, one baby, family, or village at a time...  Now that's the ultimate dream job.   #WhereToNextLord?

When Brokenness Began - Nicaragua 2015

Tomorrow marks one week from the day I stepped back into my home country,

and out of the country where I saw, felt, and leaned on God like never before.

 

So much to process, still so much to work through.

Still so much rawness.

Still so much joy from the people there.

 

People ask if we had "a wonderful trip". 

Yes.  Yes, we definitely did.

It was completely life changing, absolutely incredible, and honestly very hard.

I was stretched and pushed and molded by God.

I grew like never before.

 

We arrived in Raleigh for training Monday evening on July 20th, day that was very much anticipated by yours truly.

 

Our mission began with a worship service, and as I stood there, a huge smile broke over my face.

What joy! 

This is where I belong! 

Worshipping my Creator with youth who have the same drive for Christ that He's given me.

Working with teens on a mission to bring Christ to the nations.

This is where I belong.

I knew that God was going to do something great.

I just didn't know how hard it was going to be to get to that place where he could work in me.

 

After a couple hours, the mission leaders began casting parts in the drama.

I was so thrilled with the role I was chosen for.

I wouldn't have rather had any other part, and I was incredibly happy. 

But when drama training began, I flunked...completely. 

That night I flunked,

the next morning.  The next afternoon, and evening, and morning after that.

 

What on earth was going on with me??

I got acting.

I've been involved with it for who knows how long.

I understand it.

Why was I not getting this??

 

I wasn't getting it because I was the one trying to get it.

I was being overly - yet unintentionally - self sufficient.

God can't use that.

Training started, and I thought I could do it.

I knew I could do it.

But God was like, "Um, no you can't."

And I fell.  Over and over and over.

Somehow everyone had no problem learning an intense 20 minute drama in 2.5 days.

I didn't.

I was embarrassed - humiliated, even.

 

And terrified.  I hated feeling so incredibly stupid, and I did. 

I knew people were frustrated with me, I knew they saw my stupidity.  I knew I had to get my part down or I would be replaced in the drama. 

I was so scared and humiliated that I was sick.

But I had to be broken.  I had to get over that "I've got this" mentality. 

 

God opened my eyes, and then I knew.

I could NOT.  God COULD.

I began to say over and over, "when I am weak, He is strong.  When I am weak, HE IS STRONG."

I've "got" nothing.

God has everything.

When I gave up my self-sufficiency, God came in and restored my brokenness.

Now he could begin work with me, and work with me he did.

Through His grace, I learned the drama by dress rehearsal at the end of the our 30ish hours of training. 

 

Before the last practice before leaving for Nicaragua, we had a service where we'd preform the drama for good friends and family.

But before we started the drama, we took an hour and a half to worship God.

An hour and a half that would change my life.

All the team members stood in the front, and we began to pray over each other. 

One by one, we surrendered our fear, and prayed over our peers - our new family.

It was so incredible... the first time I've experienced something so powerful.

To surrender my fear was so hard, but when I began to pray, I filled with such peace that I never wanted to stop.

We felt God.

 

And when it was time to preform the dress rehearsal, it went so well.

I was so proud to have our family and friends come and see us as we prepared to leave as missionaries.

The best feeling in the world. 

By the time we left the church at 12am, we had a total of 4 hours before leaving for the airport at 3am later that morning.

 

But this was only the beginning of our journey to Nicaragua - we hadn't even left the state yet!

What else God was going to do on the trip was beyond what I could have dreamed.

It was going to be life changing, incredible, and it was going to begin to break me apart.  It was going to start tearing down walls in my life that hadn't realized were there.

It was going to be hard, but God would be with us, and that was enough.

 



Challenge and Triump

Kaden.

We love him, and we always will.

But that doesn't mean he's always easy.

 

2 years after coming home, I'd say Kaden's "honeymoon stage" has officially ended.

*sigh*

 

He is full of energy, full of potential, full of questions, and "whys?", armed and ready for arguments, and full of needs for explanations for everything...  Hence, my parents are exhausted. 

 

We don't know what's going on with our K.K.

Thankfully, though, we don't always need to know.  Challenging times will pass, and we'll become stronger because of them.

 

But even with our challenges, Kaden is pretty darn awesome.

Earlier this summer, we went with family to a race at the YMCA.

Everyone in the kid's racce took off and sprinted towards to finish.

 

 

 

Everyone but Kaden.

He's not one for rushing.  He likes to take his time and enjoy the journey.

He likes to have fun, he likes to go slow.

 

 

 

So he grinned and laughed and shouted his way down the road, and then...

He saw a little girl going very slowly.

So he turned to her and held her hand down as they walked the rest of the race together.

 

 

This sis was the proudest girl there that night.

So proud of my sweet brother, and so encouraged by glimpsing again the sweet heart he has.

We love out K.K., and we always will. 

 

 



Do Life Big (Video)

Going to the beach every year with my cousins, aunts, uncles and family is something we all look forward to more than Christmas!

This year was probably the best year ever, and I loved every minute of it.

It's been a tradition for the past 5ish years that we make a video with all the cousins to play at the end of the week.

This year was no exception!

It was a little different from other years,

but it turned out so well!

It was made up of 8 mini videos all piled together into one.

Do Life Big is one of my two favorites :)

Learning to Be Still

 

 

"So how are you, Brittany?"  I'm asked.

"I'm great!" I respond, "a little tired because I've been so busy, but busy is great!"

 

You see, I'm a doer. 

My day consists of being productive (aka working, creating, serving) eating and sleeping.

I simply love to do.

 

I'm happiest when I'm very busy "accomplishing" things.

Busy is always best, am I right?!

I sure thought so, but man was I wrong.

 

This past year has been a year of discovery for me, and the discoveries continue.

Let me back up...

There was a time where business was a form of survival.  Thankfully, that time has passed (hallelujah!).

 

But that time damaged me. 

I subconsciously trained myself to be busy with the strictness of a drill sergeant.   I found meaning in being productive, and I found life purpose in doing.

Danger alert!  Danger alert!

Hold everything and back up, this just isn't right.  It's obvious now, but at the time I wasn't even aware of the danger. 

A year and a half of constant business passed. 

During this time, I reprogramed by brain in the area of production.  I got to the point where I despised activities that I believed had no purpose. 

 

Reading is an example.  I used to love to read.  I would read all the time. Some of my favorite memories are of me sitting in bed in the wee hours of the morning transported to another world through the magic of books.

But what did that accomplish?  I would later think.  That was utterly pointless. I have wasted hours of my day sitting here doing absolutely nothing. 

So gradually I stopped reading.

Sure, I did read some.  School books, how-to books, and devotionals made up my literary diet.  All imagination erased in pure productivity. 

How disgustingly bland.

 

Reading is an example, but productivity dominated every part of my day.

So much so that it began to destroy me.

2 months ago when we went on a family trip to Florida, I became horribly depressed.  ON VACATION.

I was miserable because I had to relax and I couldn't always do.

I felt like I wasn't able to fulfill my purpose in life, I wasn't able to encourage others and I was miserable. Again, this was while I was on vacation.  yuck.

 

And then I got super scared, thinking,

"If I'm ever blessed with a really good friend (and I am now, this was back a little ways) how will I ever be able to maintain the friendship?

I despised the thought of just "hanging out", and that's what friends do.

It takes so much time of doing and just being to get to get to know someone well.

How will I ever be able to do that?"

 

I was scared silly.

There was the motivation, I had the willingness, so what was the plan?

I tried to figure it all out.  So what are the steps?  Alphabetical order, please.

Not.

 

 That's when my mom and I had a conversation about it.

"Back when everything was perfect," she said, "God didn't require Adam and Eve to work in the Garden.  He wanted them to enjoy.  He wanted them to enjoy walking with Him in the garden and simply enjoying his presence."

And that's when I clicked for me.

 

Above all else, I want to glorify God.  I nearly always have.  That is my purpose in life, that's the reason why I'm living and why he's kept me alive.

If He wants me to be still and simply walk with him, I WANT to.

 

Then God showed me why he wanted me  to just be still and enjoy.

I saw God, perfect and holy, pleased with his creation.

He had worked to create this for us.  And for me.

He wants me to look around and enjoy it, literally taking the time to stop and smell the roses.

Because that glorifies God.

That makes Him happy.

There I was, flying through life "accomplishing" things.

And there He was, wanting me to stop and enjoy Him and what he made for me.

 

And now I am going on vacation again.

I am going to enjoy living.

I am going there with willingness to stop and walk with God, willingness to be still, listen and enjoy my Father.

Yes, I will do.

I will do things that I love to do, but I am doing them because I love to do them and not to "accomplish" things.

I go to sacrifice my will to God by relaxing and enjoying.

And I have a feeling that its going to be pretty darn nice. :)

 



Doing Something for Mabel with YOUR help!

Mabel has been on my mind constantly since reading about her,

and I am not content just to sit back and watch.

I'm doing what I can to help.

 

I'm so excited because I'm able to send her a package with some little gifts in it!

And I'm also thrilled about this...

My amazingly sweet friend, Ashleigh,  is helping me put together a rally for Mabel, and we need your help!

Please, please, please do this:

 

This Monday (March 16th, 2015), take a picture of yourself wearing purple and post it on your social media with the hash tag: #miraclesformabel. 

 

 

 

And please let me know if you are joining us! 

I'm putting together a little scrapbook with pictures of everyone who is wearing purple to give to Mabel, and I've love to include your picture!

 

And...

for those who participate in this rally, there are rumors of a Ugandan jewelry give away going around!

If you would like to be included in the drawing, please leave a comment below saying so.

 

And, friends, pray.

Pray, pray, pray for this sweet gal.

I'm believing in God's promises for Mabel. 

Please pray with  me that this sweet Ugandan treasure gets the chance at life that she deserves.

 

If you're on Instagram, I'll be posting about her under my account @brittanygilbarte

Thank you!!

 

 



Naptime Conversations

Ahhh, the joys of being a big sister!

Right now I'm sitting in Bethany and Kaden's room just talking and talking away.

It's naptime, and I'm babysitting.

A wonderful thing about being a big sister is that I can spoil my siblings a little.

Not totally, of course, but I love to do it occasionally.

 

We're talking about my favorite thing - God and salvation.

It started when Kaden had a mini-melt down over going up for rest time.

He came up, but he kept telling me he was mad and frustrated.

I had two choices; I could brush it off and order him to go to sleep (and get the big sister of the year award, of course!), or I could talk it out with him.

I chose to talk it out.

We talked and talked.

I prayed for him and thanked God that his is my brother.  I prayed that God would take away the frustration and anger in his heart.

After praying, Kaden said he was still angry.

I explained that God would take the bad feelings away, if Kaden would let him.
I explained to Kaden had to chose to open his heart to God and allow him to take away the bad feelings.

It makes me so strangely thankful for what I've been through in my life.

Now I have the knowledge to speak from what I've experienced and what God has taught me.

I learned from experience just this past week about opening your heart to God, being vulnerable, and allowing him to come into your heart and heal you. 

I was taught this by the Holy Spirit during a painful spiritual attack I'm planning to post about soon.

 

We talked for so long - we're actually still taking as I type. 

It's an hour past naptime, and I don't really care.  (hope you don't mind either, Mom! :/ )

We're talking heart to heart, and its so worth it. 

It confirms what I've been feeling.

I feel so called to mission work among children, and that what I'm planning to go to college to learn to do better.

Sharing how the Lord has worked in my life is my passion, and I feel so fulfilled and alive doing it.

I want to share what I'm learning with those who are struggling and need encouragement.

There are so many dreams that God has placed on my heart, and I'm so thrilled that they are beginning to happen.

I'm growing faster than I ever have in my life spiritually, and God's been working mightily, healing me of so much.

 

 I want to encourage you in the dreams and plans that you have.

What dreams has God placed on your heart?

What is He calling you to do?

Are you struggling with something, or do you need encouragement, or prayer?

Don't be afraid to ask for it.

Summing up, I'll leave you with this:

 

"Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power."  - Ephesians 6:10



A Kaden Update

Kaden.

Life with Kaden is so good.  And rewarding.  And exhausting. 

He's always done so amazingly well being home.

He has his days, of course, but all of us do.

He's learning right from wrong, and, like I mentioned in the last post, is our family's police man when it comes to "making good choices" and rescuing people. :)

 

And like any boy,

Kaden gets mad.  He gets his feelings hurts, and he gets sad.

He has needs like other children his age, but his needs are often met differently than the average child.

He needs security, predictability, and love.

He needs those things in ways that other kids don't.

He needs time to pretend to be a baby, and experience the love and innocents that babies get.

 

He needs to know that we will always have food to eat, and that he will never go hungry.

He needs to be allowed to "save" some of his food for later, if he feels the need to do so.

While we let him do that, we also try to stress that fact that it is unnecessary.

He will always be able to eat when he is hungry.

 

And he needs love.

He needs to know that we will always love him.

Always.  No matter what.

When he makes poor decisions, we love him.

When he has to be disciplined, we love him.

When he doesn't get his way and throws a fit, we love him.

Last night Kaden was crying.

He said that he thought I wouldn't "be his friend anymore", simply because he was acting up when it was time for bed.

Kaden, sweet Kaden, I will always love you. 

You are my brother, and nothing you could do will make that love disappear.

 

And so, the "Melt my heart" part of this post:

I have special goggles I use when I swim.

Most goggles hurt my eyes, but these don't.

It just so happens that Kaden loves these goggles.

It also just so happens that Kaden breaks things very easily.

Because of these two factors, I try to keep said goggles out of sight in my room.

Today Kaden found them, and was playing rescue (his FAVORITE game)  with them.

I sat down next to him and explained that those goggles could be easily broken and asked for them back.

Kaden gave them back easily, but got upset.

He started looking for his handcuffs, and when he couldn't find them, he got a rope and pretended to "put me in jail".

Bethany jumped to my rescue and ended up in "jail" (a closet) with me.

I thanked her for trying to rescue me and she said,

"It's ok.  'Cause youse is my favorite sister."

That sure melted my heart, but that's not even the best part yet.

Eventually we got out of "jail" and the little ones went down for their naps.

When Kaden woke up, he went downstairs to find me.

"Brittany," he said, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, "I sorry for bein' mean to you."

Oh.  My.

I quickly hugged him, told him I loved him, and ran up to tell my mom.

"He came in here first thing after he woke up," she said. "He told me that needed to go tell you he was sorry.  He's probably been thinking about it all of rest time."

Even now my mind fails to grasp all of this.

His heart, his loving, trustful, sweet heart... Folks, my little brother is pretty awesome.

Though it's hard to see it some days, Kaden is simply mind blowing.

I need to try harder to step back and appreciate what a treasure we have in our little man.

 

 

 



A Dream about my Lost Brother

The title of this post may have grabbed your attention.

To clear things up, I want to tell you that the boy I will talk about was never certainly going to be my brother.

I will give more details later, but although he was never officially my big brother, he will always be in my heart.

 

That being said, here is the post I had planned to write:

Last night I had a vivid dream.

Before I tell it, I want to give you a pit of background.

After my parent were married, they hosted a sweet, young boy from Belarus in the summer.

His name was Stas.

He began coming home to spend summer with my family, before I was born, when he was 8 years old.

In fact, Stas was here in the US with my parents when I was at the time of my birth. 
It was a work of God for us through him that I was born at home instead of in VA.
My parent were going to Virginia to see family for July 4th, but Stas suddenly got a high fever and my parents decided to wait. 
And then I was born unexpectantly the next day 6 weeks prematurely on July 3d.
God worked for me and my parents through this sweet little boy, and I will always have him to thank for that, among other thing. 



Stas came every year for 10 wonderful summers.

My parents and I (though my parents remember it better) had the privilege of seeing Stas grow up from a sweet little 8 year old, to an even-sweeter-still 18 year old.

One year my little 6 year-old heart was broken when my big brother, Stas, never showed up.

I have missed him every year since.

 

Stas was wonderful.

My parents could speak more to this, I have absolutely ZERO memories of Stas misbehaving or giving us a hard time.

What I remember is my "big brother" playing baby dolls with Brandon and me,

swimming in the pool with him, his sincere smile,
 and - maybe my favorite - Stas reading Brandon and me a story book in Belarusian and not being fazed when we laughed our heads off because of how funny the language sounded to us.


 

And then he would leave.

I don't remember many of the early years,

but I do remember one year when I woke up early (after he had left) and I went upstairs to his room.
All his things were gone.
Every toy was put away.
Every trace of him vanished.
I looked for a picture of him, and couldn't find even that.
That may have been the last year he ever came.
Somehow my 6 year-old heart knew that I'd never see him again on earth.



Stas had a special possession.
It was a stuffed animal Pooh Bear, who he would never take back to Belarus with him for fear of it getting stolen.

 He loved it, and I, as young as I was, could see that.
Years after he left the last time, I gathered Brandon and David in my room and showed them the Pooh Bear. 
I told them how Stas had cherished it.
Then I told them that I had promised to myself that I would keep it for him every year until he returned.  I would not let it get thrown or given away.
I was Stas's, and Stas's it would remain.

*sigh*

But, in my dream,

I was standing in our playroom (of our new house, which Stas has never seen) with my parents.
Kaden and Bethany were there playing as well.
I turned around, and there was Stas, about 16 years old, not saying a word, only standing there with a huge smile on his face and joy in his eyes.
My mouth dropped open and I just stood there, speechless.
Words escaped me and I didn't know what to do.
Not like the awkward silence that occurs when someone forgets their line in a play or anything.
No, it was nothing like that. 
It was a total, joyous overpowering that rendered me speechless.
Suddenly, I ran from the room to get something.
I came back with the Pooh Bear, and placed it in his hands.
And then my dream ended.

In my dream, Stas looked exactly like this

I don't know what exactly it means.
Maybe I will see Stas again on earth.
Maybe God's trying to tell me that I'm released from my promise, as simple as it may be.
Maybe Stas has found a family wherever he is.
Perhaps I can stop remembering him with the twinge of sadness over my loss.
Whatever it may be, I know that God has it under control, and I can simply trust him.
I love you, Stas!




God at Work! Big News for Me

I have some exciting news to share!
The story behind it is amazing...

God has shown himself so very real, and it takes my breath away.

 

Several weeks ago,

I was sitting in our church youth group.

The main pastor of our church was preaching there for the first time in 5 years.

Out of the blue, as he preached, I heard God tell me,

"Go to Nicaragua."

 

I was confused.

Was this God?

or was this just me?

 

A bit of background...

I went on my first missions trip to the Dominican Republic in 2010, when I was almost 11.

The trip went well, and left and good impression in my mind.

After coming out of treatment, when I was 13-14, I went through an identity crisis.

I tried to figure out who I used to be, who I was then, and who I wanted to be.

I didn't know "what I wanted to be when I grew up," and it bothered me.

This was a very hard time in my life.

Those 1.5 years of anorexia left a scar on me and my family.

It was a time I will never forget, and I don't think I'd want to if I could.

That time, as horrible as it was, molded me and made me a better person.

It is teaching me reliance on God and how vital surrender to Him is in life.

I still have much work to do,

but healing is taking place in my life.

Anyway,

coming out of that time has shown me how important hope and joy is in life,

especially to those who are hopeless.

That, as well as many other things, points me to life as an overseas missionary.

That is the job for me, and I am more excited about it then anything.

The details are still coming together,

but unless God leads me otherwise,

I will go to a missions school after high school, and go on to do mission work.
Just clarifying, this isn't happening yet.
It is still a few years down the road, but it is my plan, and, I think, God's will.

Back to the story: 

I kept what I heard to myself for a few days, only asking my Mom if she knew much about the Nicaragua..

I found out that she's actually been there, and learned a bit about country.

Later that week I was looking at a random blog, and saw pictures of a trip taken to Nicaragua.

I then told my mom what had happened that Wednesday,

and we decided to keep it in mind and see if anything would come of it.

 

Several weeks past.
I felt called to a malnutrition site in Uganda, and talked my parents about letting me go this summer.
After discussing it, we came to the conclusion that it wasn't the right time for that.
That night, I went to the website of a youth pastor who visited me in treatment.
He takes groups on missions trips in the summer, and I was curious what he was up to.
I was astonished when I saw where they were going...
Nicaragua.
I excitedly shared the news, and received positive feedback from my family.
I emailed the group asking for more information.
You can imagine my amazement when, the reply told me that their music was going to my youth group that night.
Completely out of the blue, and it can only be God who orchestrated it.
My youth group very rarely has other groups come to speak at it, and his group hadn't been there in a couple years.

I thought about my youth group, and the trip they were taking this summer.
I had heard a rumor that they were going to Jamaica,
and wondered how they'd feel about me going with another youth group on a separate trip.
Of course it didn't really matter, but I felt awkward. 

This part of the story, a long with the rest of it, just spells out GOD.
Only God.
That night, my youth group announced that they were going with Maximum Missions, (the youth group going to Nicaragua) to Nicaragua!

and the news:
I am going to Nicaragua this summer!

I am utterly speechless, but more that that, overwhelmingly excited.
To be shown God's hand in such away leaves me breathless.
We serve and amazing God, don't we friends?

I know it has been a long post, but thank you for reading it to the end.
Please keep me and my church in your prayers.
God's hand is at work, and I am so excited to see how he will use us.
As the apostle Paul would say,
"Peace be with you!"
 



2 Years Home!

This second year of Kaden and Bethany being home as absolutely flown by!

We've had a really great year with them, and have seen them both develop and grow,

both in character and physically.

 

I think back to this night 2 years ago.

We were all so excited for our parents to come home with "Kadi" and "Baby Jilma".

As excited as I was, I was lightly nervous and apprehensive. 

What would this be like?

Our life would be completely different now...

What would we do with them all day?

Would Mom and Dad have any time for us anymore?

I never asked these questions, even to myself, but they were subconsciously running through my mind.

Then they pulled into the driveway.

Slowly they got of the car.

As soon as I saw 5 month old Bethany - my baby sister - all my subconscious fears instantly vanished.

I held her for the first time a few seconds later, and I was in love.

This was my sister, my answered prayer, the one I had waited for years to love.

And Kaden....

Oh, the little toddler he was then.

It is absolutely crazy to look back at picture and videos and to see what an absolute baby he was then.

He has grown so much and has completely transformed. 

He has been such an amazing joy and blessing, even through the sometimes trying times.

We are so unspeakably thankful for the gifts we have been given through Kaden and Bethany.

We love them so very much and cannot imagine our lives without them. 

 

Our day was packed full of fun!

Kaden called a meeting and together we came up with a list of things to do to celebrate.

Amazingly, we've done everything on the list!

 

Our day began with a special breakfast, then a trip to the park to play and take pictures, with Subway for lunch.  Next we came home to play outside, make jello, have shrimp for dinner, and end our special day with looking at pictures and videos from Congo before playing Baby Kaden and going to bed.

One of my greatest treasures... enough said.

this year

Last year

Two years ago! 

 

 

We also made Jello!  Although it didn't turn out quite right, it was fun!

Jon got into it too!

 

 

Kaden and Bethany,

We love you SO. VERY. MUCH. 

You are amazing blessings in our lives, and we can't image our lives with out you.

We love you!

 



Bethany

Bethany brings so much joy to our lives.

She is now 18 months old and is really showing her personality.

Bethany's a tough girl, and it takes a lot to make her cry.

And she'll let you know if she doesn't like something!

At one point Kaden was scared of her because she was so aggressive in how she

acted towards him at times.

But she can really be a sweetie, too!
Tonight she before bed she blew a kiss after signing "thank you" for reading her a book.

Moments like that are so sweet and something to look forward to every day.

So many times I take for granted the amazing gifts God has given us through Bethany and Kaden.

They are both doing SO, SO well, and it's really amazing.

It's hard to remember what life was like before them.

Even though moments are hard and frustrating,

I'm so thankful God has made me the sister of these two treasures!

 

 

 

 



My Brittany

Things like this just make me smile.

Kaden has transitioned from calling our Mom and Dad

 "Momma" and "Papa" to "Mommy and Daddy".

Sometimes he'll say to them, "You my Daddy."  or "You my Mommy."

"Yes!"  we tell him.  They are your Mommy and Daddy.  Always.

Then yesterday in the car he pointed to me.

"You my Brittany."  He told  me.

"Ommm, yes,"  I said. "I am your sister."

He nodded satisfied.  "You my Brittany."  He said again, and this time I didn't correct him,

I liked the sound of that.

I am his Brittany.

:)



Kaden's 4th Birthday

Reminder:  My blog is going private soon.  Please become a follower so I can add you to the allowed readers list.  Thanks!

 

Hi everybody!

I hope you all are having a great week.

We have had some excitement in the Gibarte house recently.

Excitement which involves,

streamers

candles

balloons

presents...

any guesses?

Yes, we had a birthday!  And it wasn't just anybodies birthday, it was Kaden's!

We had a pretty fun day...

we decorated the night before to surprise him when he came down.



Kaden doesn't like cake,

so we decided to make him a special egg and sausage funny face for breakfast. 

He liked it.

Yeah, so maybe it's not the typical birthday treat.

That's okay.

 

He got some really neat presents, one of which was a drinking straw that looked like glasses. 

I love this boy!

And we had a pinata, which everyone loved.

 

It was a great day, and we are blessed to have this wonderful little boy as part of our family.

We love you,

Kaden Louis Gilbarte!