I’ve spent some time reading stories of soldiers who earned Purple Heart medals, from World War II to the present day. My heart has marveled at their valor and bravery.

Soldiers who:

endured sniper fire, running through fields that the enemy were hiding in,

fought valiantly for twelve hours even after they were wounded,

crawled toward the front lines through heavy fire, while their comrades died around them because they knew what had to be done,

marched through tribal villages where they were the first white men to be seen and over a mountain for a total of one month, and then fought the Japanese,

are fighting the war on terrorism,

who bravely lead K-9 dogs ahead of convoys to sniff out IEDs, and even after being wounded, insist to keep going for the others’ protection,

men and women affected by PSTD from head injuries.

Freedom is not free! These soldiers are giving their most precious possession, their lives, for other’s freedom.

Thank you.

While I marvel at our American soldiers’ bravery, my heart aches for the voiceless (the pre-born) who will be slaughtered even this very week.

Friends. Picture a cemetery with rows and rows of headstones. It would stretch beyond our ability to even see its borders on account of the 59 million markers (the number of babies killed in the United States since abortion became legal). To put into into perspective, Arlington National Cemetery has 400,000 graves: less than 1/100th of the size a baby cemetery would be. Let that sink deep into our hearts: these innocent babies have been killed in their mother’s womb.

If you’ve already watched Anna’s video, I encourage you to re-watch it, and pass it along to a friend this Memorial Day.

Will you pray? Will you pray that this modern day holocaust, a war on the innocent is stopped?

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13

I learned so much from the conference. In fact, by the end of the first full day, my head hurt! 🙂  I’d never been in a group of people where literally every single person loved to write and either had written a book or was working on one. I really appreciated the Christian emphasis in the conference too–keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus! For those interested in learning more about the conference, here’s the link.

I’m extremely excited about the character + plot the Lord has given me for my next book. After attending the conference and learning new things, I’m revising ideas before I start to write. This book will be worth the wait!

The official total of snow came to 36.2″ inches. Something dawned on me one day. I always wanted to experience being in a snowstorm in a mountain town in Colorado, and here it was, in May, and the Lord gave it to me! Wow!

Saturday evening, a small group of us gathered around the piano and sang and gave testimony! Such a beautiful time.

Love,
Sarah

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower,
and will watch to see what he will say unto me,
and what I shall answer when I am reproved.”
Habakkuk 2:1

Colorado is my favorite state. I love mountains, and I’ve spent many happy vacations there over the years.

The Lord laid it on my heart the end of February to attend this conference. I feel strongly He’s encouraging me to continue writing children’s stories, and I desire to learn as much as I can.

The beginning of the trip held a visit with friends and then the delightful opportunity to spend the morning at Rocky Mountain National Park. Although I couldn’t hike due to my toe injury, Mom and I enjoyed spectacular views. The Lord gave us a beautiful morning before the storm set in later that night.

We drove as high as we could before the road closure stopped us (to Trail Ridge). We enjoyed reading our Bibles and then at the end, we listened to Psalm 19 while looking at the mountains. Wow! That Psalm really came alive!

Look at all the shades of green in the above picture!

We met this family at Bear Lake, and they have many of our books. What a small world to bump into someone who knows you!

We stopped in town for a milky way mocha–delicious.

The next post will be about the actual conference!

Love,
Sarah

PS – Just let these three verses soak into your heart.

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language,
where their voice is not heard.“
Psalm 19:1-3

(Our Colorado report is coming soon!)

We enjoyed showering Mom with extra love and attention on Mother’s Day. We’re grateful for a woman we are privileged to call Mom who pours her life into others.

If you’re like our family, you tend to celebrate with some good food, and that’s exactly what we did. I’ll share the recipe for Mom’s favorite chocolate chip muffins in a separate post next month. Did you know Mom loves creamed salmon over toast? Yes, it’s true! What about dessert? A rich chocolate sauce she had growing up as a very special treat when she received good grades in school. Sweet memories.

We had family over multiple times during the day, so the house rang with lots of little ones and laughter.  Enjoy some photos from Mother’s Day!

Love,
Sarah

“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
Exodus 20:12

Joseph and Elissa know Mom loves time with the little ones, and what could be better than a trip to the zoo? J&E worked hard to coordinate with the extended family a zoo trip, and they revealed it to Mom through a series of clues.

Saturday morning, the 13th, dawned beautiful and crisp. Mom’s heart literally sang with joy surrounded by her family. (A few couldn’t make it due to bad colds, and I also couldn’t go due to that much walking with my toe injury. Those who went kindly took pictures for me so I could blog about it.)

I’d love to hear how you blessed your mom on Mother’s Day!

“And God created great whales, and every living creature that
moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly,
after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind:
and God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 1:21