Hey, my sweet girl.   I sit here tonight reminiscing about the past and I felt the need to share my heart with you.  I still remember the day I laid eyes on that beautiful face.  My first thoughts were, “Wow, that child is gorgeous.”  Then I realized your mom, dressed in medical scrubs, was walking beside the nurse who was carrying you.  She had a HUGE smile on her face.  Wait!!!  That means…….THAT’S MY DAUGHTER?!?!  It WAS you…..8 pounds of the sweetest and most darling thing I had ever seen in my life.  You see, you were not conceived in your mother’s womb.  Rather, you were conceived in her heart.  She may not have carried you in her body for 9 months but I dare say you had been birthed in her heart years before we would see you, our promise from God, come to fruition.  Our road to begin a family started a few years earlier.  That very road led us to you and we couldn’t have ask for any greater a gift than what we had received.  I still remember watching your mom through the window of the nursery that day.  She seemed to stand a little taller as she protectively hovered mere inches from your pink body.  She stared intently at the nurse as, no doubt, instruction and information were being discussed about any number of things related to newborn babies.  That day I saw your mom in a different light.  She wasn’t the same woman I had married years prior.  As if someone had flipped a switch, something wonderful had happened.  The passion, love, and mothering instinct radiated from every pore of her existence.  From that moment, and every moment since then, she would have given her life to protect you.  Who really needs a man-made holiday when you have days like this???  THIS is a TRUE Mother’s Day!!!!

Though you are only five years old right now the day will come when you too will have your own children.  I pray, with all my heart, you will learn from the Godly example He has placed in your life.  She is a wonderful example of how to be a spirit-filled woman of God.  The way her life is lived is something to be emulated.  She is not perfect and does not claim to be but, in my opinion, she comes closer than most any other woman I know.  Solomon, the author of Proverbs, said it best when he stated, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”  Forsake all books, television programs, magazines, and anything else that would ever attempt to teach you what beauty is.  You need look no further than your own home.  Not only will you find true beauty every time you look in the mirror but also every time you see you mom.  Your value will not come from how much makeup you wear, the amount of friends you may have, the clothes you wear (or lack thereof), or the car you may drive.  Never look to the world for guidance of any sort as you will only be manipulated.  Allow God to be your compass.  Never attempt to find or assess your value through the relationships you may or may not have.  Your worth is found in your relationship with your Heavenly Father.  Keep your eyes focused on God and I assure you, you will never go wrong. 

All My Love Forever,

Dad