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I started the day as I often do, on my knees in prayer. Today, I thanked God for the privilege and blessing of life. I submitted my life to His service. I drank coffee and read the Bible. God has been using Isaiah 30:15 lately. I treasured those words. My mom sent me a message. I will call my parents later. A few friends started sending me messages from far away. A phone call from Australia. A friend working among armed groups in the continent of Africa stopped to send a blessing. A friend in northern California sent a message. Social media made birthdays wildly fun. You get hundreds of messages. This year, I am planning on being present with my sweet family near and far. 

I went to CrossFit and had a great workout. When I came home, I took a shower. When I came out of the shower my family surprised me with gifts and they prayed for me. I got a ninja blender, some thick winter socks, ferrero rocher, a candle and birthday cards from each one of the kids. 

We had breakfast and went to Dallas. We went to Sam Moon where I bought a few pieces of jewelry. We took the littlest one to American Girl then we went to the mall. I got my Starbucks birthday reward. The kids went ice skating. Most did not enjoy it but it's okay. You have to at least give it a try. 

We headed back home after that. I took a nap on the way back. My sweet neighbor stopped by with a gift and for a visit. We are so blessed with neighbors who are loving friends. 

We all got ready for the next day which is the first school day of the year. 

I received a lot of phone calls and messages from near and far. I enjoyed speaking with my family and friends. Their good wishes and blessings were so meaningful and important. 

I'm most grateful to God for family. I treasure our family and our habit of celebrating birthdays. We ended the day by reading out loud, sharing our favorite part of my day, and prayer. 

God is good. I'm grateful for a quiet birthday. My heart is filled with gratitude. 

More celebrations here:

• 2006
• 2008
• 2008

• 2009

• 2010
• 2012

• 2013

• 2014
• 2015 

• 2015

• 2017

• 2018
• 2019
• 2019 
• 2020
• 2021

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Phenomenal 40

Today God is blessing me with 40 years of life. 

Today, I'm thankful that I know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. 
Life with Him gets sweeter than the day before. 

I am surrounded by my husband and children. 
My family is my joy. I'm firmly rooted in them. 
Because of them, I have everything I've ever wanted. 
I don't want another life. 

I am in a new community. 
I'm still getting to know people.
They are still trying to figure me out. 
I hope they know that what they see is what they get. 

I pray that my 40th year will be phenomenal by God's grace. 
Thank God for 40. Thank God for what's to come. 

"Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

the palm of my hand,

The need of my care,

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me." 

"Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou

P.S.: If you want to contribute to my Mission Trip fundraiser today, I will appreciate it very much! Click here

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Orchestrating my Birthday

I think I know why I started orchestrating my birthday. My first birthday in the U.S. happened on a cold day in 1999. In the previous 18 years, my birthday happened in the Brazilian summer. I was surrounded by the warmth of my family. I said goodbye to all of that when I accepted the plan of God for my life and moved to the States. 

Two new friends took me to a local pizza place that evening. I was in the U.S. long enough to notice the ads for stuffed crust. We ordered our pizza and we enjoyed our time together. When it was time to get the bill, we told the waiter (who was the manager really) it was my birthday. He told me the meal was free to celebrate the date. He also told me not to tell my friends in college about it. He didn't want revenue loss. I thought that was a kind, selfless act on his part. I am sure God orchestrated it all. 

As the years rolled by, my birthdays became a blur. I know I had them. I was often working or getting ready for classes to start again. 

When I met my husband, everything changed. He celebrated me like I've never experienced before. Birthdays became a time to thank God for life and to really enjoy the one day dedicated to me. 

One year during my birthday, Zeke and I in Brazil. He got to experience my family's way of celebrating birthdays. That year, both of my grandmothers were still alive. One of them joined us for lunch at a steakhouse. We took a lot of pictures. It was my last birthday celebration with my grandmothers. I treasure those memories. I'm sure God orchestrated that day.

When we moved to Texas, I became a little obsessed with the details of my birthday. I left all of my friends in N.C. but I still needed to go on with life and celebrations. 

My first Texas birthday was fun. A group of friends from church came to our home and we had a thanksgiving service to God. We thanked Him for another year of life and we ate Brazilian food and cake. The kids were tiny and I was pregnant with my youngest daughter. 

As the years rolled by, I kept the celebration going, I just struggled with the consistency of the friendships in my life. I have written a lot about friendships and I will continue to do so. One of the things I have a difficult time understanding is why some friendships are conditional. Conditional friendships are the ones that work for one person only. The conditions need to be just right. If one detail does not work for them, they are out of the picture and the friendship stagnates. 

I struggled with a birthday party list. Should I include the conditional friendship people? If I exclude some people, are the others going to mind? I became a bit obsessed with orchestrating my birthday during those years. Mind you: I had fun. I had great celebrations. The what-ifs in gathering a guest list were not fun at all. 

I think my breaking point came when I was fussed at by a few friends on my birthday. I thought, "this is my only day to have fun and celebrate the life God is giving me. I don't need this kind of attitude." I proceeded with that year's lovely celebration determined the next birthday would be different. 

The following year, I decided to cut way back on the parties and hold a small celebration with family. It was great. The next year, we included a friend who's known me for 20 years and one of my cousins who was living near us. That party was a lot of fun.

I still struggled with wanted to orchestrate everything. I decided to write a new year's goal to "stop orchestrating my birthday." Orchestrating means over planning. It was hard to do but now that is all over, I can say my 2019 birthday was extra special.

When I stopped orchestrating things, I gave my friends a chance to express their feelings in their own timing. I also gave my friends the liberty to celebrate my birthday however they chose. When I stopped orchestrating my birthday, I gave friendship a chance to bud and flourish in a different way. 

There were celebrations, dinners, phone calls, and remembrance the entire month following my birthday. I was thankful to stop controlling things. Sometimes, that's the only way you know that you really have.

I believe that my friends add a lot of joy to the fabric of life. When I stopped orchestrating my birthday, I saw that joy firsthand.

I don't know a lot a lot of people who orchestrate their own birthdays. I do know we all have the tendency to orchestrate some area of our lives. 

It might be related to marriage or parenting. It may even be your career. I'm not suggesting that we become careless in relationships and job responsibilities. 

I am telling you that when you stop orchestrating, you see what you really have. 

The first step is to recognize our controlling tendencies. The second step is to let go of fear. The third step is to stand there and see what comes back to you.

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Birthday: thinking about the year ahead

Having a birthday at the beginning of January causes me to be very reflective. I’m thankful for the year that has been and I look forward to fulfilling my call in the year ahead. 

When I reflect, I divide the previous year into two categories: what worked and what didn’t work.

What didn’t work in 2018

• Doing things out of guilt - no explanation needed. The pain of doing things out of guilt is one I don’t care about having ever again.
• Podcast - I had so much fun launching my own podcast. I learned a lot from the process. I only had two friends who supported the show financially. The lack of financial support and the number of downloads taught me that I need to invest my time elsewhere.
• eBooks - I wrote two ebooks in 2018 and I sold only two copies. I even offered one of the eBooks for free to a group and only one person took me up on it. I’m abandoning my insistence in writing books. I am a writer and I will always write. What I know for sure is that if writing and being published is from God, He will make an opportunity evident.
• misusing my time - this was quite the fight I had to win. Misusing my time is not helpful to me at all.
• regret - I spent quite a bit of time entertaining regret. The lesson here is to dismiss the past and fully embrace God’s next season for me.

What worked in 2018

• Having a clear goal in mind - mindlessness is death. Having a goal and working towards it by taking small steps is the way to go.
• Changing jobs - God blessed me with a great job and it made a huge difference in my life. I feel blessed and I know for sure God opened those doors.
• Cutting screen time down to a minimum - working with media can be tricky yet, I was able to cut my screen time way down. My peace and productivity really increased. You should give it a try.
• Investing in my health and fitness - It is easier to serve God and my family when my health and fitness are where they are supposed to be. This investment required me to do things differently, for example, I cut my running miles down. I also did not miss out on celebrating holidays and eating “fun” foods. I practiced self-control and thank God for this gift.
• Doing what I can with what I have - this might be one of the greatest lessons of 2018. I need to do what I can with what I have. I applied this to many areas of my life. For example, my kids needed tutoring and I found a tutor but I couldn’t afford it (we’re on the road to living debt-free). I allowed myself to freak out for a few moments. After that was over, I decided to pray with faith and wait for an answer. The answer was, “do what you can with what you have.” God is so good. The kids are doing well and it turned out we didn’t need a tutor we couldn’t afford. I apply the “do what you can with what you have” principle in other areas of life and it really works.

The cool thing about moving on to another year of life is that I can measure the result of my efforts. If something didn’t work, I’ll let go of it. If something did work or I need to do more if it, we’re taking it with us to this new year.

I’ve been holding the following Bible verse close to my heart when it comes to the upcoming year:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 
2 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV)

I have complete trust that God has amazing things planned for me. It’s up to me to be a good steward of the life He has given me.

Thank God for another year of abundant life.

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6 Years Ago 6 anos atrás

So Blessed!

Happy Birth Day

Thank you Jesus!

Our youngest turns 6 today. Nossa mais nova bênção completa 6 anos hoje. Thank you Jesus. Obrigada Jesus.

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Grace to Grow

Moi, a few moons ago. 

I looked at the person holding the birthday cake in the picture. I remembered all the struggle that happened before that perfect, social media moment. I remembered the hopes and also the disappointments. I remembered where I was. Don’t worry, I knew I was cherished. I also knew I wanted to grow as a human being. I looked at myself holding that birthday cake and I decided to give myself what the closest people in my life were giving me: grace. Yesterday I was blessed to see another year of life. Part of my thanksgiving to God includes my commitment to personal growth. It’s hard to measure it but I know that either I am growing or regressing in my character. Part of my search for personal growth comes through the goals I set every year. Although none of them say: “this year I want my character to grow as tall as a tree” such growth has the opportunity to happen. It often happens as a result of how I bounce back from personal struggles. Honestly, I don’t sign up for that but they do come year after year. I am determined to stick with the God I serve, who never leaves, forsakes but always guides me to all truth. It seems to me that through whatever worthy goals I pursue, I pray that I gain better composure, that I walk with dignity and that personal sacrifice is just part of the deal. Developing a mature character is supposed to be costly. That’s the part of goals we don’t often read about. Yesterday, there wasn’t a photo of me holding a cake but we did take our traditional family photo. I hope that a year from now, I will look at myself and remember that I made the right choice which is often the hard choice. I chose growth through grace over remaining who I was the prior year.

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Happy Birthday! Feliz Aniversário!

 Today is my birthday and I thank God for another year of life. Hoje é o meu aniversário e eu agradeço a Deus por mais um ano de vida. 

Mãe holding me, my dad is holding my sister.
We were born 11 months apart.  

I'm thankful for my parents who are celebrating 39 years of marriage this year. They are the original baby bunchers: 5 kids in 6 years. Agradeço a Deus pelos meus pais que estão comemorando 39 anos de casados esse ano. Eles nos tiveram uns atrás dos outros: 5 filhos em 6 anos. 

My sister, my dad and I at our beach house in 1980 or '81

Last night, my husband and I were talking about our childhood. No matter how happy it was, it's all a grateful memory in our adult hearts. All that's left are the daily actions my kids are witnessing. Ontem a noite, eu e o meu esposo estávamos conversando sobre a nossa infância. Foi uma infância muito abençoada, e agora a memória está guardada no nosso coração. O que fica são as ações diárias que meus filhos estão observando. 

Houston Marathon '16 selfie

I'm sure my kids are watching me run a whole lot. I have found that running is a gift so I started the day with a birthday run. Uma das coisas que meus filhos estão observando são as minhas corridas. Correr é um presente, então comecei esse dia com uma corrida. 

Running in November of 2016

If life is a marathon, birthdays are mile markers. Some runners keep running, glancing at the mile markers and hoping to keep going towards their goal. Others stop to appreciate where they are. Some even take selfies at every mile marker. Today I am stopping at this mile marker to appreciate God for giving me life and to thank family and friends for their love and support. 

Se a vida é uma maratona, aniversários são a kilometragem. Muitos corredores continuam correndo, outros param durante a maratona pra tirar fotos perto dos sinais de kilometragem. Hoje eu quero parar e agradecer a Deus por me dar vida abundante e quero agradecer a família e amigos pelo amor e apoio. 

I'm eternally grateful for the gift my family is. With them it's a happy every day. Sou eternamente grate pelo presente de Deus que é a minha família. Come eles todo dia é feliz. 

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I Champion You

I didn't write a post about Zeke's birthday last year (ops!) but here is a photo. This man looks fantastic year after year!

birthday 2015

Last year Zeke had a big surprise party at church and we went out the night of his birthday for seafood. It was also during that time that I had to stop eating my fish cause it was sooo greasy, my stomach couldn't take it. Good times!

birthday 2016

This year we started the celebration early. We went out for dinner Sunday night then we celebrated big time on Tuesday. Zeke had a rehearsal on his birthday so we waited until he came back to continue to celebration with a dinner at home. The kids and I look forward to his birthday each and every year! This year we prayed that God would give Zeke a long life so we can celebrate many more years.

I listen to a Podcast where several speakers use the phrase "I champion you." This phrase has intrigued so much, I have successfully internalized it and I want to make it a practice in my relationship with Zeke.

In my opinion, when you "champion" a person, you make sure they win.
Championing someone means that you support them with everything that's within you, no matter the cost.
"I champion you" means that you have my undying loyalty. I wear your t-shirt with pride and I cheer you every time you are out there playing the game of life.
I champion you. I like this phrase.

Let's be honest and say that championing someone is challenging but a worthy goal. I don't do it correctly all the time. I recently found out that I can champion Zeke way better than I have in the past 13 years. I have made it my personal goal to champion him well. I was born for such task.

I know this is supposed to be a happy birthday post and it turned out to be one about how I need to do better, love better and champion better. The truth is that relationships are never stale, either you are moving closer to each other or apart. Because I champion Zeke as a habit, I believe we are growing closer together in true Agape love. 

Thank God for Zeke. Long live the king of my heart.

Birthday Archives:
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012 and 2012 recap
• 2011 surprise party
• 2010 immediately loved
• 2009 Turning 30 (português)
• 2008 (português)
• 2007 (português)

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Gratidão a Deus no dia do meu Aniversário

"Que darei eu ao Senhor, por todos os benefícios que me tem feito?" Salmos 116:12

Hoje eu agradeço a Deus pelo dom da vida. Estou completando 36 anos de vida com Jesus. Sou grata a Deus pelo meu esposo e pelos meus filhos queridos. Agradeço a Deus pela minha família querida. Sou grata por amigos que nunca me esquecem. Agradeço a Deus pela sua Palavra que é viva e que não volta vazia. Agradeço a Deus pelo propósito que Ele tem pra minha vida. Não posso deixar também de agradecer pelas lições aprendidas de jeito difícil, mas com a certeza de que em todas as coisas sou mais que vencedora por Jesus que me amou. Também quero agradecer a Deus pelo privilégio de que é a oração. 

Hoje é domingo então estaremos louvando a Deus na igreja. Que bom que a minha minha gratidão continua o ano todo e todos os dias da minha vida. Obrigada Senhor Jesus por mais um ano de vida abundante em Jesus! 

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Feliz 1,826 dias!

Hoje é o seu aniversário! Que essa data se renove em muitos anos. Estamos agradecidos demais a Deus pela sua vida e pelos anos que Ele tem te dado. Como você está crescendo em estatura e graça na presença de Deus. 

 Hoje corri 5 milhas pra comemorar o seu aniversário. Daqui a pouco mudo isso pra kilômetros. Rs! 

Você pediu por café da manhã na cama com o seu cereal predileto e com donuts. Cantamos parabéns e o seu pai orou por você. 

Ontem uns amigos vieram comemorar o seu aniversário conosco. Desejamos que você continue crescendo com sabedoria e graça na presença de Deus. Fico feliz pelo coração grato que você tem. Também dou glórias a Deus pelo jeito único que Ele te criou. Feliz aniversário querida filha. Nós te amamos e bendizemos a Deus por mais um ano de vida abundante! 

Previously:
• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3
• Year 4 

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Happy Birthday Belle

"I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you with My eye." Psalm 32:8 (NKJV)

"Instruir-te-ei e ensinar-te-ei o caminho que deves seguir; guiar-te-ei com os meus olhos." Salmo 32:8 (ARC)

What a fun birthday you had! Celebration in two states with both sides of our family. It's not a Listenbee birthday without our traditional donut breakfast celebration. Our family was so excited and the little cousins woke up extra early. 

Que aniversário legal que você teve! Comemoramos em 2 estados com toda a nossa família. Não esquecemos do café da manhã com donuts, nossa tradição especial de aniversários. Nossa família estava feliz e os priminhos acordaram cedo a bessa pra comemorar contigo. 

 We started celebrating early and kept the birthday weekend fun going on and on. Birthdays are to be celebrated because God, who gave us you, is so good. 

Nós começamos as festas bem antes do seu aniversário e continuamos. Nós celebramos com júbilo porque Deus, que nos deu você, é tão bom. 

You are a sharp young lady. I know you're just 3 but I can see God's hand upon you and the gifts He has already placed in you. My prayer is that God will instruct you and guide you all the days of your life. Our goal is to instill in you a love for God, knowledge of His word and obedience to Him. We're so glad you are ours and we are thankful for the joy you bring. We rely on God to lead us in this new year of life. You're growing in wisdom, grace, stature and love. You're all joyful and that's where your strength comes from. Happy birthday Belle. Let's keep that celebration going on and on and on. 

Você é uma mocinha bem esperta. Eu sei que você só tem 3 anos, mas eu já vejo a mão de Deus na sua vida e os talentos que Ele já te deu. Nossa oração é pra Deus te guie todos os dias da sua vida. Nosso objetivo é pra que você ame a Deus, conheça a Palavra de Deus e pra que você obedeça a Deus. Somos gratos a Deus por ter nos dado você e pela alegria que você nos dá. Dependemos de Deus pra cuidar de você nesse novo ano de vida. Você está crescendo em estatura, graça, amor e sabedoria. Você tem a alegria do Senhor que é a sua força. Feliz aniversário Belle. Vamos continuar essa festa!

• Happy 2nd Birthday
• Happy 1st Birthday 

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Batman DIY Party

Each time our kids have a birthday I am learning more and more about DIY parties. This year my goal was to come up with a Batman party that would be fun, affordable and moveable. Here are some easy ideas of how to do it yourself:

1. I got yellow and black balloons from Walmart. They were $0.97 for a bag.
2. We also bought this Batman from Walmart. It was on sale for $15. Great decor!
3. I printed this free Batman shield and glued it to yellow construction paper. The little bats around them are from Hobby Lobby. I went to the craft section of the store.
4. I bought both the yellow banner and the black stickers from Hobby Lobby. They turned out pretty good and I hope to recycle it.
5. Wall art was on sale at Hobby Lobby so I bought this and one more. Decoration I can reuse rocks.
6. I decided to make the cupcakes myself which saved me a lot. I took it easy on the icing because I'm not an icing person and I thought the parents of the kids who ate these cupcakes would appreciate less sugar in their system.
7. I printed the cupcake toppers from this site. I glued them to construction paper and used some clear tape and toothpicks to finish out.

I already had the cupcake tower (what a great investment!) and as you can see my son was very happy with his birthday celebration. Oh, I made the shirt he has on this photo. I bought the shield at Hobby lobby as well as the black t-shirt. I glued it the night before his birthday and that's all it took!

I told you the party needed to be moveable. My son's birthday was on a church night so we moved the whole party to the church. Many thanks to my friend Louise for making the superhero signs for me. It was a fun party and I hope I gave you some ideas for your own celebration.

Other party DIY posts:
• How to make a Balloon Wreath in 2 steps
• My first DIY Party
• DIY Baby Shower
You can also visit my Pinterest Board for other Smart Party Ideas:

Follow Cintia's board Smart Party Ideas on Pinterest.

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Feliz Aniversário Zion! Happy Birthday Zion!

Hoje é o aniversário do meu filho querido. Estávamos contando os dias por muito tempo! Agradecemos a Deus pelo filho amado que ele é. O Zion é feliz, tem um coração bondoso e sempre fala sobre Jesus com os outros. Ele tem um senso de humor maravilhoso e adora uma risada. Esse ano disse que quer ser corredor quando crescer. O Batman é o super herói predileto, mas na verdade o pai dele é o maior herói que sempre teve. Ele ama suas irmãs e adora brincar com elas. Ele ama sua família e amigos. Ele gosta demais de ir pra igreja, principalmente pro seu estudo Bíblico para meninos. A minha oração é que pra cada promessa de Deus se realize na sua vida. Tenho orado esse versículo sobre a vida do meu filho:

"E haverá estabilidade nos teus tempos, abundância de salvação, sabedoria e ciência; e o temor do Senhor será o seu tesouro." Isaías 33:6 

Filho, muitos anos de vida abundante te esperam na presença de Deus. Hoje a festa é sua e a Deus agradecemos. Te amamos querido! 

Today is my son's birthday. We were counting the days and it's finally here! We are so thankful to God for our son. He's a happy young man who loves God and his family. He loves to run, he loves to play and Batman is his favorite super hero. To tell you the truth, his dad is his favorite super hero of all times. Zion loves school and he loves to go to his small group for boys at church. Our prayer is that every promise God made to Zion will come to pass. I have been praying the following Bible verse over his life:

"and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure." Isaiah 33:6 (ESV)

Son, we are so thankful to God for you! Today is your day and we will celebrate you every day of your life. You are so loved by us but God loves you way more. 

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Sunday Seven

Happy 2015 my friend! Feliz 2015 amigos! I will share 7 photos we took as we celebrated my birthday yesterday. Hoje eu quero mostrar 7 fotos do meu aniversário ontem. 

1. We were supposed to run 12 miles but the training was canceled due to thunder and lightning. I saved this handsome man from the pouring rain. I had to cancel my breakfast "compression socks party" but the two of us got to eat breakfast together.
1. Todo sábado a gente treina pra maratona (que é em duas semanas!), mas o treino de ontem foi cancelado por causa da chuva, trovão e raios. O Zeke começou a correr antes de mim então fui dirigindo pra socorre-lo do dilúvio. Tive que cancelar minha festa com os amigos corredores, mas nós dois saímos pra tomar café da manhã juntos.

2. We got to rest a lot and clean because the run got canceled. We also cooked a Buffalo Chicken Dip with chips; a Brazilian Torta Salgada; another Brazilian dish called Salpicão with rice; vegetable and fruit platter; hummus; salsa and I bought a small german chocolate cake.
2. Já que não corremos descansamos e limpamos a casa pro culto. A comida foi o Buffalo Chicken Dip; Torta Salgada;  Salpicão; Hummus; Salsa; servi frutas e vegetais e comprei um bolo de chocolate com coco. 

3. It is my family's tradition to have a thanksgiving service to God for another year of life. A few friends of ours got together to praise God for another year in my life, to pray for me and to encourage me with Godly words of faith and wisdom. We also sang a few songs, which was lovely.
3. Minha família sempre teve cultos de louvor a Deus em agradecimento a nossos aniversários. Alguns dos nossos amigos vieram aqui agradecer a Deus conosco. Eles também oraram por mim e cantaram louvores a Deus. 

4. The day before the party a dear sister in Christ braided my hair. Here is a photo of the cake. We added the strawberries and the candles. We're gonna recycle these candles.
5. No dia anterior uma irmã em Cristo trançou meu cabelo. Essa é uma foto do bolo que comprei. Eu adicionei os morangos e as velas. O engraçado é que vou usar essas velas de novo, minhas filhas vão fazer esses aniversários esse ano. 

5. Every photo is a funny face photo in my kids's minds.
5. Toda foto é pra fazer careta: essa é a idéia da garotada.

6. Caleb has been a faithful friend of our family for 10 years. We worked together 10 years ago leading Confirmation Retreat Weekends for the United Methodist Church in Lake Junaluska, NC. It's a joy to see how God is ordering his steps. It's an honor to be his friend.
6. O Caleb é um amigo da nossa família. Fazem 10 anos que o conhecemos. Ele organizou encontros de juvenis comigo na igreja metodista na Carolina do Norte por vários anos. Dou graças a Deus por estar guiando ele, é uma honra ter uma amigo como o Caleb na nossa vida.

7. My sweet friends Kay and Ed gave me these awesome roses. I love flowers and I believe that friendships are like flowers: they immediately uplift you. I praise God for encouraging friends. I'm reminded of all of my friends during my birthday (thanks Facebook) and it's a joyful way to start the year.
7. Meus amigos Kay e Ed me deram essas rosas. Eu creio que amizades são como flores: os nossos amigos nos animam e nos alegram. É uma alegria ser lembrada pelos meus amigos no meu aniversário (graças ao Facebook). Que jeito bom de começar o ano!

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Happy Birthday! Feliz Aniversário

Agradeço a Deus por mais um ano de vida. I thank God for another year of life. Eis que tudo se renova. Everything is renewed. 

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Happy Birthday Zeke!

Happy Birthday my love.

This is my 11^th birthday with you. I can honestly say that celebrating you is one of the highlights of my year. First, you’re a joy so it’s easy to celebrate you. Then, you bring me so much joy, it’s an honor to make this day about our thankfulness for you.

Zeke, I waited for someone to fill my heart with love just to be inundated by you.

11 years ago I decided to celebrate the best friend I’ll ever have in life and the celebration continues.

This day means a lot because God made you with me in mind. Even before I existed, God had already blessed me with the gift of your life.

Far way in the States, you were born and our destinies collided. As our love continues to grow, I pray that I can continue to be God’s instrument so that you can be all God has called you to be.

Zeke, you are my love and the greatest gift God has given me. With long, abundant life, God will satisfy you and show you His salvation.

I love you more than words can say, so I’ll show you every day of my life.

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Happy 4th Birthday Kiki!

The day you were born I was thankful.

We are so thankful to God for our daughter's birthday! These first 4 years have been filled with blessings from God. I have the most fun looking back at the photos of our past 4 years. 

Your first birthday in North Carolina. Legit Tea Party!

Posing on your second birthday.

My daughter is a blessing. She loves family time and we love her for that. We make it a priority to be sure to give her and all our kids lots of family time together. 

Made you laugh!

4th birthday bliss: story time

We made sure we made her whole day extra special so we must have sang happy birthday at least 4 times. We celebrated at church with her Sunday School class. 

Celebrating at Church. 

 We also had a party at home with our friends and family.

It's not a Listenbee party unless we sing and dance!

Posing with Elsa.

My sweet girl

Excited about her special heart shaped donut and her candles

Family photo with the cake

God will satisfy you with long life my darling girl. You are a joy and God is the strength of your life and your portion forever. I thank God for adding so much joy in our lives because of you. May your dreams keep on coming true! Mamãe, Papai e seus irmãos te amam querida. 

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