Saturday, October 14, 2017
My Sweet and Silly Dashy,
It’s the morning before your
8th birthday. As I sit on our balcony of what has been our Orlando
home for the last 7 days, overlooking our Playground of Joy, I smile in knowing
that tomorrow our celebration continues back in Tennessee.
Last year, I typed your 7th
birthday letter from the beauty of Seacrest Beach. This year I’m doing so from
a balcony near Disneyworld.
This past week has truly been
an adventure that I will treasure in my bank of memories for all of my days. I
am filled with gratitude that your Daddy decided to gather our family together
to share in this experience. I will never forget the moment when Mimi,
Grandaddy, Auntie Ali and Uncle Patches yelled: “SURPRISE” as they entered our
room on our first evening in Florida!
Each and every year that I
sit down to type these birthday letters to you and Cam I am always flooded by a
wave of emotions.
· First: Joy! A pure state of elation that fills and
floods my heart!
· Second: Sadness in knowing that another year has
passed so quickly.
· Third: I am flooded by LOVE for our Jesus and the
gifts of my beautiful boys that He has bestowed upon me
· Next: Remembrance for all of the years and growth of which
we have experienced together as a family
· Finally: Excitement for the beautiful future that is
to come both here as in heaven, my Dashy.
And so, my Littlest, today
and every day, with all of the above sentiments, I am celebrating the Miracle
of YOU!
JOY:
Oh how you have been a
carrier of joy since we first learned of you growing in my belly. Holding you for the first time was so very
different than with Cam, yet both moments are two of my heart’s deepest
treasures. I could not believe that my heart was able to contain even more love
than it already had; not to mention that the love I felt for you was unique and
just as immense as what I felt for your brother upon his birth 21 months prior.
Being a witness to your first
belly laughing hands up roller-coaster experiences this week was an absolute
delight! Watching you bless other children around Disney with the prizes you
won at Dinosaur Land was pure bliss and made my oh-so-proud mama heart
swell!
Your joy has been like an
overflowing wellspring. From your sweet little voice, your on-point-and even
sometimes hysterical dance moves, your one- liners:
“Well, Mommy, you may not have always known Jesus, but I’ve known Him since I lived in your belly,” and finally, your great big bear hugs and cuddles around the neck that sometime choke me…but always fill my cup with never ending JOY!
“Well, Mommy, you may not have always known Jesus, but I’ve known Him since I lived in your belly,” and finally, your great big bear hugs and cuddles around the neck that sometime choke me…but always fill my cup with never ending JOY!
SADNESS:
Sweet boy-you carry absolutely
no sadness. It is an emotion that I allow myself to feel as it comes, though
not to live inside of it for too long. The only time that I ‘m sad is when I
think of the years that have passed, because I am unable hold on to your tiny
yet far too quickly growing little self! I know the days of being able to carry
you piggy-back will soon come to and end, though I vow to continue until it is
no longer humanly possible! I’m also well aware that the day will arrive when
you will no longer say: “YOU are my only girlfriend, Mommy,” with such a pure
and sweet innocence. I will continue to
beg time to slow down…so you can remain tiny for just a little while longer on
our journey together through this life.
LOVE:
Oh my son- the LOVE I have
for you is currently flooding my eyes with tears that are spilling over on to
my hands as I type each word from my heart. You fill me with this emotion more
and more each day. You teach me every day about how to LOVE patiently and
uninhibited. Watching you take the world in with your bright and big eyes has
been a treasure that continues to multiply each and every year. You see the
world intelligently as well as artistically. You share your love without fear!
I promise I will preserve and applaud you for that all of your days. Your LOVE is
exactly what our family needed and I thank you for always sharing your heart.
You lead us into bigger depths of LOVE simply by just being YOU!
REMEMBERENCE:
I remember how we struggled
to find balance in your health during the first few years of your life. I remember the doctor telling me that she
thought you had muscular dystrophy at your one-year well visit because you
weren’t walking. I remember how you crushed that lie and have grown to be the
most agile and vibrant little mover and shaker I’ve ever known. I remember the
way you used to talk… where your R’s sounded like W’s…. Oh how I miss those
days. I remember your 4th birthday when we bought you a stuffed dolphin larger
than you in size. You have slept with that dolphin every night since. I am remembering the first time you rode
Honey the Pony at Kindred Spirits Farm and when you walked right under the head
of the largest most majestic horse, Annabelle, and stood so very close to her
without fear. I remember how you used to sit in my lap and cuddle with me in
the carpool lane at Step Forward Day School. We would sing, laugh, and talk
before you went out to adventure in your last year before you began grade
school. I remember the excitement on your face each and every Christmas, and
how we have experienced a miraculous shift in the meaning of this holiday
together as a family. A shift that has grown our depth of love for our Jesus
and within our family beyond my wildest dreams. I remember your Daddy baptizing you in the
Harpeth River and how you witnessed to our family and friends: “I Love God
Because He is AMAZING” before you were washed forever clean and anointed as a
child of The Most High! I will never forget walking down the isle this summer
toward your Daddy with you and Cam on either side of me … the love of what God
has done for us yesterday, today, and forever being celebrated on that
beautiful day surrounded by those whom we adore on this side of heaven and
amongst the Great Cloud of Witnesses.
EXCITEMENT: Oh Dashy, I am
still weeping as I share my heart with you in these words, but these tears are
truly ones of Joy, Love, and Excitement! While time only seems to move more
rapidly each and every year, I am embracing the changes of the seasons as I
know they bring the MORE that our Lord has for all of us- especially for you
and your brother. We still have so many “firsts” that we’ve yet to experience together
and my promise to you is that I will not allow fear to dictate how I guide and
parent. I will always look to heaven with advanced thanksgiving and praise God
for the blessings that haven’t happened yet as though they already have. Today,
I praise Him for your bright future, your strength in health, mind, body, and
spirit, your unwavering and steadfast passion for TRUTH, that you will make disciples
of Christ- simply by showing the love and joy that you have for Him, that you
will dance like nobody is watching for all of your days and you will teach your
children to do the same.
Happiest 8th Birthday
My Littlest!! You truly march to a never ending and eternal beat from heaven
and I praise our King of Kings that He chose me to be your Mommy.
Celebrating your yesterdays,
your today, and your FOREVER!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
Mama
