This has been an exciting week for Sarah!
1. Twitterpated
I'm probably going to be in lots of trouble for that pic, but I couldn't resist! Sarah has her first boyfriend! Dan is very nice and a good kid. The best thing is that Sarah is his first girlfriend, too! They both feel a little awkward trying to figure out all the "rules" of dating. It's really cute!
#2. Puzzle
Sarah is a junior, but Dan is a senior. On Sunday, Sarah went to Dan's concert.(He plays viola in an orchestra.) Afterwards, Sarah went to dinner with Dan at his grandmother's house and got introduced to some of his relatives. Dan had a surprise for Sarah! It was a cookie puzzle he had baked. When Sarah put it together, this is what it said...............
...she said yes! (of course)
Shopping for a prom dress is going to be tough! Sarah got added to a facebook group at school where girls are posting the dresses they chose. 1/2 dresses are more like it! Thankfully, Sarah is very good about picking out clothes. I'm sure we will find a dress that is beautiful and classy...just like her!
#3. Award Number 1
There was a pro-life Mass for the diocese today with an awards ceremony afterwards to celebrate the pro-life essay winners for both the junior high and high school students and the John Cardinal O'Connor Youth and Adult Awards. Sarah won second place in the high school essay contest. The first and second place essay writers for each age division read their essays after Mass. I wish that I had recorded Sarah reading her essay! She is SO passionate about the pro-life cause, and she did a really great job on the essay. (I will share it at the end of the post in case you're interested!)
#4. Award Number 2
What Sarah didn't know was that she was also chosen to be the recipient of the John Cardinal O'Connor Youth Award! Jay and I knew, along with a handful of teachers, but they asked us to keep it quiet and surprise her during the ceremony. Well....surprised she was!
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| I took this picture when the head of the prolife office for our Diocese mentioned her name! |
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| Sarah with Bishop DaCunha |
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| with Jay's parents |
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| Sister sass |
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| Sister smiles |
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| With mom and dad (and one of the little guys I babysit) |
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| Sarah with Mrs. Tarentelli, who nominated Sarah for the reward. Photobomb by Kate |
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| Our Pastor, Msgr O'Connor, con-celebrated the Mass |
#5. Super Sister
Sarah was born into a gaggle of boys! Surrounded by three older brothers and then flanked by a younger brother 2 years later, she learned to hold her own. But she's always had a sweet and girly side, too.
Sarah is crafty....and loves having girl time with her sisters. She's a great example to Ellie, who's another great super sister!
#6. Goals
Sarah is a very smart girl(in the top 10 of her class) and is interested in learning about everything! We are frequently teasing her about being a nerd. (She reads a book on the brain for fun...she brought it on herself) ;) Science and Math are her favorite subjects and she often talked about being a biochemist or some other kind of scientist and trying to find a cure for Autism.
More recently, she has been thinking about going into speech therapy in order to work with special needs kids. Obviously, having a brother with Autism has made a big impact in her life. She is really good with all kids, but especially kids with special needs. Sarah has a very big heart, and she shares it with everyone!
One specific example that I witnessed happened during a grocery shopping trip a couple of months ago. We were at the check-out and there was a young high school boy working as a cashier who had a stutter, and the bagger was a mildly handicapped young adult. Sarah was just being Sarah...talking super nice and asking them questions. She waited patiently for the cashier to speak through his stutter and by the end of our 5 minute check-out, he was barely stuttering because she was so patient with him and made him feel comfortable and the bagger was beaming from the attention.(I'm sure the fact that she's a pretty girl had something to do with it, too!)
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| Sarah and Pete sharing a goofy moment... |
#7. Blessed
We are so proud of Sarah...and so blessed that she is our daughter!
(scroll down past the pictures to find Sarah's Essay!)
Sarah's Pro-Life Essay
Each life tells a story. Some are long, some are short, but each is valuable. You determine your own story, but you also influence others' on their journey. You are the main character, the supporting character, and the strange acquaintance. And every story you are in would never be the same without you.
Every life tells a story. Some span the length of a century; others last less than a year. Some stories cannot be told on Earth. Others are spread freely and often. No matter the story, each is worth telling and each is worth living. Every life is valuable; it is given to us by God for a purpose. We were not meant to wander aimlessly on the Earth, but to perform a certain mission, the path of which is already known by God.
Every story is worth telling because every life has value. We all know many stories, but we tend to appreciate those that are glorious and heroic. This is good, but not everyone can be like St. Joan of Arc or Martin Luther King Jr. With people such as this, the value of their lives is clearly seen, for they changed the world. But, is life only precious when it is well known or accomplished much? No. Life cannot be valuable for what it does, it is valuable for what it is.
Mother Teresa once said, "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." Mother Theresa spent her life among the poor, serving them as Christ and loving them individually. In her every action, she sought to comfort the heart of Christ, to satiate the longing of His heart by loving Him in the form of Calcutta's poor. She experienced extreme spiritual desolation for years. Yet, she still loved every soul as if they were Christ and cared for each person she encountered. Mother Theresa's life is clearly important and astounding, though she was hardly a celebrity. But Mother Theresa's story tells more than just about the value of her life; it also describes and highlights the value of the life in every human being, even the sick, unborn, and dying. They are worth caring for, giving up out life for, and she did just that. One does not dedicate their entire life to something useless or valueless.
St. Therese of the Little flower is also well known for her deep love of Christ. She was not known for grand actions, but for her little way. She said, "Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, or even at their difficulty, as at the love with which we do them." A life lived to the fullest, then, is a life spent loving our Lord with a burning heart, longing to be ever close to Him and loving Him in others. St. Therese was known by very few at her death, but her writing filled with simple love is why she is a saint today and millions look to her for guidance.
One of my favorite stories was very short. Therese Elizabeth Hamel was born on May 20th, 1998. She died sixteen days later. What did she accomplish? Not much. She never ran a marathon. She did not sway the hearts of millions. She never even spoke a word. Why is she important? She was and is my sister.
Our world is not the end all, be all. We exist body and soul. My sister is in heaven. She is not here, but she never left me. I hold her name and she is my saint. I pray to her when I need help. Sometimes I just talk to her. She watches over me and my family and she protects us. I miss her. I miss her a lot, but she will always be there for me.
Her life lasted less than a month, barely two weeks. But she still left her mark on this Earth. If life is only valuable for doing great things, then she is among the many useless bodies, but if life is an invaluable gift from God, then she is among the celebrated multitude who lived. We live. If we are alive, then we exist for a purpose. Some simply fulfill theirs sooner than others. Then God calls us home, and we run to Him, He who stands with open arms waiting to welcome us into His Kingdom and the wedding feast. Our loving God longs for us; He gives our life value, for we are created in His image and likeness. He considers us infinitely valuable, so who is anyone to detract from that? The intrinsic value of a life cannot be diminished, cannot be detracted, cannot be destroyed. The almighty, ever living, omnipotent God who loves us with a heart that burns for us, who suffers when we do not ask for His mercy and love, who died so that we may live with Him forever, this God has given us dignity and a human life. Who can say that any life has no value, has no meaning, or has no purpose? That was never ours to determine! God does not make mistakes; there are no accidents. Everyone was created for a reason that He knows, and to love Him. This is why the pro life movement exists, because every life is valuable and worth protecting from conception until natural death.
Every life is a freely given gift from God. He created us, cares for us, and holds us in creation by His infinite love for us. He sent His only Son to suffer unimaginable and incredible pain, to die for us, so that we may have life and have life abundantly. He did not suffer and die for some or a few, but for all, whether their lives lasted an instant of a century. We have been redeemed by a God who longs for us and wants nothing more than to have us love Him back. We do not choose whether or not our life means anything, for that is not up to us to decide but for the one who created it. And so every life is worth living because every life has infinite value given to us by our loving God and Father. We were made in His image and likeness; we were made to be like Him. He has a plan for every one of us, and so our lives are each great stories that are worth being lived out to their glorious conclusion, their final battle, and into eternal life.
