I believe.

I believe in God. 

I believe that He has a plan for every single one of us. 
I believe He is the beginning and end, the alpha and the omega.
I believe that pain can sometimes be a good thing — that it can bring people closer and MOST IMPORTANTLY bring us closer to God.
I believe that He wants ALL the glory, even if that makes him a selfish Father — after all, He made it ALL. 
I believe in ANGELS — and they are EVERYWHERE.
I believe that when two or more are gathered in His name, He is there.
I believe that faith (and prayers) can move mountains. 

I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES — on March 20th my good friend’s husband CAME BACK TO LIFE — he was born again. 

Never have I seen so many families and friends come together SO QUICKLY to pray and pray and PRAY over a man’s body, over his health, over his wife, over his children, over the doctors and nurses taking care of him. 

Peyton Smith was NOT looking good and the doctors were saying he WAS NOT GOING TO MAKE IT. 

A miracle… from the moment he fell on his kitchen floor, his daughter seeing him and running to tell his sister-in-law, Lauren, and her boyfriend, Alex, that her daddy was sleeping, to the moment when Alex (an EMT!) performed CPR on what he thought was a corpse… getting all that strength to merely keep oxygen in his body until the ambulance got there, then shocked back to life, and rushed to the hospital. 

If Ainslee, his daughter, would’ve thought daddy was playing his “I’m sleeping game”, things would’ve been different.
If Lauren and Alex weren’t home visiting, things would’ve been different.
If Alex wasn’t and EMT, things would’ve been different.
If family and friends had not prayed (and prayed, and prayed), things would’ve been different.

God is real and I believe in Him and His love for us… you?

French Quarter, New Orleans

After a delicious morning at the Morning Call, we headed to the French Quarter -- I felt much nostalgia.  It was like walking around the streets of Casco Viejo in my Panama.

The South is fun. I want to go back for more. Mardi Gras anyone? Maybe without the kids...

Ladybird

This dawg. And her parents.

We stayed in their amazing home, dined and wined together, all in front of the Colorado River. Who wants to move to Austin?!   

Sunrise in Arizona

It was my turn to drive at 4 am... I had to pull over at 6 am to take a picture. It doesn't do it any justice but here it is to my quiet memory of that moment. 

To God, who made it all.

Panamericana 1

In December we visited Panama for the winter break. And by winter I mean summer.

Yes. It is summer in the tropics when it's freezing in the US. 

Alex, the kids and I went on a little adventure across the country visiting old vacation spots that my panamanian family use to go to when I was growing up. Or traveling through the "interior"... Panamanians refer to the country side as the interior (in spanish "el interior") but... shouldn't it be the "exterior"? Oh man, I miss mi Panamá. Have I mentioned that I'm nostalgic about home? That's another story for another day. 

On a hike with the kids in Boquete on our way to a waterfall.

MariaGibbs_Panamericana_001

 

VBS

This year I had a lot of fun being a part of VBS at the Hermosa Beach Valley Park site. We had a headcount of 20+ kids per day! We worshiped, we danced, we colored, we glued (got dirty!), and we listened to the BIG GOD STORY. 

OH! And we raised enough money for one wheelchair for the wheelchair mission! 

God is good!