Birthday Moment

Our only daughter is celebrating her 9th birthday today. Here is a picture of our girl helping me make Pickled Green Tomatoes.

Before she was ever born, I almost lost her. I went to bed to rest, and had a wonderful dream. God showed up in my dream and I knew that all would be well. When I awoke from my nap, I was filled with much hope and peace. We named our precious baby girl Hope Shalom as a reminder of the Lord's goodness and faithfulness.

Hope means confident expectation of good, and Shalom means peace. (If our last baby had been a girl I was going to name her Faith Charise. However, God sent us a boy and Faith just didn't seem to fit. We named him Seth, which means appointed one. I figured God knew we already had 3 boys and only 1 girl, but he appointed Seth into our family anyway)!

We will be having a family celebration this evening, and of course we included one of her little friends to join in the fun. She had the funniest birthday request I have ever heard. My husband said, "Only a girl child would come up with that! We have a little trailer that hooks on the lawnmower to use as a little cart for odd jobs. Hope suggested that her brother's make her a float using the cart, and pull her around on the evening of her birthday!! She thought that would be a fun moment in time, and it would make a great birthday present. If this gift comes to pass, I will be sure to post pictures later, but don't hold your breath!!!

grace and peace,

julie