the trip I have waited forever for....

resting, chatting, giggling, crying, and sharing life.

That's what i'm doing this weekend.

with some incredible incredible women.

you might remember when I went on this trip, last year.

Some of you even thought I was crazy for going...

I went with my "blog friends", 9 other women who I had never met in person.

But it was a testimony of the Lord's creativity in connecting hearts and making friendships...

and one of the best trips I have ever taken.

well...we did it again!

And it seemed like a LOOOONG year, waiting to be reunited with these precious friends.

We text literally every day, and have been dying for this trip to be here.

And it is!! 

(not everyone is in this pic...we still had two more to pick up from the airport.)

kara, hannah, carina, leslie, jami, danielle, esther, and aly are all here!!

So so thankful for these women.

They truly are some of my very best friends.

I will write about them more someday soon. :)

if you dont know my friends...you need to. 

you will be SO so blessed!

PS.

If you have Instagram and want to follow our trip...

check out the hashtag #seattlecamano

making my heart happy this morning...

this sweetness!

I LOVE how B wraps her little legs around her big sissy to dance!

these two little girls are so good for my soul. :)

(I shared this video on Instagram too...if you aren't already following me,
come find me @heyitssarahlowe !)

ten years of marriage...& why we still fail.

I can hardly believe it.
Seems like yesterday, but also like forever ago.
TEN years ago today...I married my love.

During our ceremony, and as we walked out of the church as a married couple,
we worshipped to the song,
"Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman.
The main words of the song say
"You give and take away...Lord BLESSED be Your name!"

We had no idea how prophetic that song would be,
and how we would so need to hold onto the truth of it, throughout our journey of marriage.

As lots of people know, especially people we have walked in life with for a long time...

our road has not been an easy one, from Day 1.

I've blogged about this some before, but we have seen a large share of hard times...

many older wiser people have even told us it's been more than most couples endure in a lifetime.

Lots of sickness (including some serious diagnoses), 

broken finances (literally negative in our bank account), 

more deaths than most young people deal with,

(including both of our dads' sudden deaths, and now three babies),

and a never ending battle against the enemy to rob us of our love for each other 

as we muddle through all the hard stuff.

We have had moments where we want to call it all off.

Moments where it feels like we are drowning and can't even rescue ourselves, 

much less each other.

Our hearts shouting out "God we can't take this anymore! Enough!"

And our hearts longing to love each other like we know we can,

without the trappings of stress and despair from all the hard stuff.

But what God has taught IS teaching us...

We. Are. Right.

we CAN'T do this on our own.

noone can.

enough IS enough.

We cannot find our way through the covenant of marriage and love,

and the commitment to EVERY season of life with each other...

if we don't rely on the One who orchestrates it all.

oh, and by the way, He is the one who brought us together in the first place!

So no, we cannot make it on our own.

We fail.

But HE doesn't.

Because He loves us, and He loves our marriage.

He loves the union we vowed to each other.

He loves that we need Him to make to make it work.

He loves to be a part of our journey.

And not because He is a selfish, self-serving God....

but because He is our Maker, he makes life.

He creates. He is the one who showed us true love first.

And so He desires that for us.

So we look to Him, so that we don't fail.

We don't have a choice.

He has proven to us that HE alone is our

Provider, Protector, Healer, Friend, Strength, Comforter and Guide.

So yes, we fail in our marriage when we forget those things.

When we forget to rely on Him as the third person in our marriage.

But when we do remember?

(and it is a daily surrender, yall, just like it should be.)

It is BEAUTIFUL.

Now before you go assuming that I am just focusing on all the bad stuff,

let me tell you...

this ride for the last 10 years HAS been beautiful.

I have grown into a person I never knew I could be.

I have witnessed Parker be trained up in things we never imagined for his life,

for the Kingdom.

I have seen us pull together through some of the hardest moments, days, and month of our lives.

And though some days have been pretty messy...it's been a beautiful mess.

And to learn a dependence on the Lord like I never knew I needed.
THAT is beautiful.
So so thankful for a man who points me to Jesus.

Not to mention we have two precious gorgeous little girls,

all because we said "I do." ten years ago.

They were but a twinkle in our eye back then.

what joy now. What Joy!

Just like the young, wrinkle-free, 20-year old face you see here has changed a lot...
my heart has too.
My heart knows more than ever, that after 10 years of marriage,
God chose an amazing man for me to do life with.
I had NO idea what all we would go through,
but I wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else by my side.

Driving away with him that night, as his new bride...
best drive of my life.

I would do it all over again.
ALL of it.
Because I see God's love in our marriage...
in the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful.
God is good.
And the next 10 are gonna be good too. :)



I love you, Parker.
Happy 10 years baby.

1. - 11. (lately)

So much going on lately.

Thought Id catch up a little here today while I am mulling over lots...and I mean LOTS...

that God is stirring in my heart. 

So much to say.

but for today...we count. :)

1. this past weekend we went home to Dallas, and got to be loved on and poured into by our spiritual family and close friends. So so needed in this season of our life. 

We are so lucky to have them, and miss them tons. 

(those are some of our closest friends, John and Cindy)

2. a random but fun pic of Abigail and I playing Candyland for the first time...

I felt like it was kindof a childhood milestone!

3. my mom always knows the best comfort foods for me when I need them.

You can't really tell, but here is Pumpkin Pound Cake, cheese bites, and my favorite pasta salad from a little place in Dallas. and yes, I am eating them all together at like midnight.

thanks, mom. :)

4. our brave girl waiting for her appointment at Scottish Rite.

This was  a big deal and part of the reason we went to Dallas. 

She has been "toe-walking" for a long time, so she was evaluated by the best specialists and they found no need for foot braces or surgery just yet, which is a huge praise! 

Now we just pray that it will correct itself over time.

5. last week, before we went to Dallas, 3/4 of us got the tummy bug.

This is me and B in the middle of night 1 of her throwing up all night.

that was real fun.

But we all got over it really quick!

6. this was MY day of the tummy bug.

I basically laid in Abigail's room all day while they played.

I was so thankful for our combined playroom/bedroom!

7. an exhausted Bethany during our trip to Dallas.

She knows how to play hard on vacay. :)

8. this. THIS we call the "beer shade".

On the way to Dallas Abigail was crying from the sun in her eyes, but wouldn't let us roll her blanket up in the window...so my resourceful hubby pulled apart an empty beer box from the back of his car (it had been there from going to a golf game the day before), 

and used it as a window shade.

ghett. o.

but hey, it worked.

9. back to norman = heat = splash pad!

10. soaking in some rays at the splash pad.

11. nice to be back home and read books with Dada before bedtime.

I love these three with all my heart.

- - - - - - - - - -

Hope y'all have a good day today...

Guess what? Friday is our 10 year anniversary!

that's right, TEN years.

and yes, I did get married young! (everyone always says that, ha)

I'll be posting a, well, different kind of anniversary post that day, 

I'd love for you to come back for it to hear my heart about marriage.

Y'all have a great rest of the week!

the Holy Spirit...all dressed up in a cloud.

"Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.
Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, 
and the glory of the Lord filled it.

Now, whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel 
would set out on their journey, following it.
But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted.
The cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed 
inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it.
This continued throughout all their journeys."

Exodus 40:34-38

If you just skipped over reading that because it is a Bible verse, please, go back and read it.
I don't post scripture too much on here, (and not for any reason, I just don't a lot)
but I want you to read that verse very thoughtfully.
It is powerful, y'all.




I took these pictures on my way home from a doctor's appointment recently.

- - - - - - - - -

On the way home from this drive, I was living in great discouragement and fear and anxiety and well, you name it...
If it was not believing God, then I was hearing it.

Then Abigail started talking about the clouds.
She actually is the one who asked me to take a picture.
And once I did, I couldn't stop.
I even pulled over a few times to take these with my phone.
They were breathtaking to me.
Between a stormy morning and more predicted storms to come,
they were these beauty-packed fluffy works of art just floating there in the sky.
ALL around us, literally in every direction we could see.




And then, in the midst of my stubborn agnst,
a peace settled over me.
a peace like the kind of peace where it feels like you can't move.
And I knew that the Lord's presence was thick with me in that car.

He used those clouds to remind me.
To show Himself.
It wasn't the cliche "Look at the clouds, God is so big!" kind of revelation.
It was the kind of revelation and reminder that
HE WAS WITH ME.
His Holy Spirit, MY COMFORTER, was with me.

And that wherever I am...He will be with me.
And I want to be with Him.
That He won't leave.

Just like the Holy Spirit, all dressed up in a cloud,
led the people of Israel in the scripture above.



I come away from this moment, these pictures, with a fresh desire to look at the Holy Spirit around me
To TRUST Him, to know Him.

To see His Spirit moving and to see when it stops in a certain place in my heart.
Maybe a place I need to feel Him most, to be comforted by Him most, to be taught my Him most.

To know when I need to rest and when to move.
To know when to stop and when to go.
To know that I can ALWAYS believe Him.
To LET HIM BE the Comforter that He is.

Because I need it badly right now.
His comfort is my strength, and many days lately...I have been pretty weak.
So I need the comfort. I need the cloud.
I need His Spirit.




"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.
...I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart.
And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.
So do not be troubled or afraid."
John 14:16, 27

- - - - - - - - - - 

Look for His comfort today.
And it might even be worth taking a few pictures of, at least in your heart.
Find it. It WILL bring you strength.
And I believe it might bring you some needed Hope today too.
His Spirit is your advocate and peace in times of trouble and worry.
We need that peace.
I know I need some.
Bring it, Lord.
Holy Spirit, MOVE...and show us how to move with you.