Sarah Kirts' favorite activity is...anything she can do with her kids! "I just find things we can do together." Payton (11), Brennon (8), and Riyah (1), enjoy every outside activity. They like camping, fishing, and playing sports. This summer, they camped with a friends' camper. "The boys were turtle hunting for about 3 hours," Sarah laughs. They wrote the date on the bottom of the shell, in case they should catch that turtle again.
Payton plays basketball in the winter, baseball in the spring, and football in fall. He's everyone's friend, everyone knows and likes him. He's a leader, Sarah says. Brennon plays those sports too. "He could probably recite every Bible verse there is." He loves babies and helping people. Riyah, is "the perfect little baby." Even at 5 months, she slept from 9 pm until Sarah woke her up in the morning.
Sarah has worked hard to provide stability for her children. She has worked at Custom Wood Products for 12 years, and they've lived in their current apartment for several years. "Hopefully they learn that they can do things on their own, that someone else isn't in charge of their happiness." Homeownership through Habitat is the exciting next step for the Kirts family. The kids can't wait to hand over their report cards, so their grades can be counted for Sweat Equity hours toward the house. "They know how happy it makes me, how excited I am, and how my whole attitude and demeanor has changed," Sarah says, "I get the volunteer thing-how you do something nice for someone without expecting anything back, but somehow it comes back anyway."
Sarah and a volunteer group from Wal-Mart built the walls for her home in November. The pictures from that day show a group of mostly women working, with Sarah jumping into everything. "I feel so empowered. This may sound wrong, but I feel like a lot of women need someone to provide for them, but I feel like I'm kicking butt at doing it myself!"
Her sister encouraged Sarah to apply for Habitat in the summer of 2008. "Habitat means the world...I never thought I'd own a home," Sarah says, "By the time Payton's 12, we're going to be a lot farther along than I'd originally planned. I don't know where I'm going to be in 5 years, but I know where I'm going to live in 5 years."
"It's forever. It's mine. It's where we can grow and make memories."