Today is Natalie’s birthday. We had a great day with cupcakes at school, a science fair where she made slime and silly putty. Then we ended with a family dinner at Mimi’s Cafe. Her big gift from us was moving her into her own room. She was surprised and very excited.

I have typed an addition to this post twice before and lost it. Hopefully, it will get saved this time.
The reason I called the post a thankful heart is due to how we have seen Natalie grow in her faith lately. We have been encouraging Natalie to invite friends to church since she was a preschooler. She is now taking it on her own initiative to reach out to others. The week after her birthday she invited a friend from school only to find out that friend does not go to church. She proceeded to ask her if she knew the meaning of Easter and then share that Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As she told me about the conversation she was just glowing. So happy and in her words it felt so good. So my thankful heart as we celebrate Natalie this year is that despite a new secular school and our failures as sinful parents, she is growing in her relationship with the Lord and she wants to share that with others. We are so blessed!