Sweet momma,
Where do I begin?
I’ve been trying to write your birthday card for weeks now, but my pen just hovers above the paper. It seems attempting to express my heart toward you is as easy as trying to take a sip of water from a fire hydrant.
The other hiccup was the fact that it was a pen in my hand, rather than a keyboard in my lap. Now we’re talking.
Mom. You are magnificent. You are the most beautiful woman I know. Your beauty is so much more than skin deep. You ooze such extravagant love for human kind that it radiates from your very pores.
Your sweet, steady presence comforts me. Your quiet confidence inspires me.
The wisdom you offer is timeless, and {usually} so graciously delivered, {most often} at just the right time. Of course you are human and not without error, but in the face of the grace you exude, your weaknesses are simply exciting opportunities for you to grow. And grow you do. Watching you blossom over the past several years has been as extraordinary as watching a caterpillar become a butterfly…and then continue to morph into an eagle.
Impossible, of course, but with the God you so faithfully serve at the helm of your life, it’s simply a part of the unfolding adventure you live. I know as well as you do, impossible is in His job description.
Thank you, beloved momma, for being the woman you are. The friend you are. The wife you are. And the mother you are. The leader you are.
I know I speak for my sisters when I say, we could not have asked for more in a mom. Even the mistakes you have made in your discovery of just how to raise quality human beings have been stepping stones for us. You have walked consistently, vulnerably and transparently in your journey, and so have enabled us to learn from your ‘detours’.
Thank you for loving our daddy so deeply and so beautifully. You have shown me what it looks like to be the wind beneath my husband’s wings, and at the same time, his strong, independent team-mate. My husband thanks you too!
The way you celebrated dad and built him up in our young lives {without putting him on an unrealistic pedestal} spoke volumes…to him and us. You helped mold the tender love and incredible respect I have for my daddy. An example I’m excited to model for my children, and another quality my hubby treasures in you, and now in me.
Thank you for so consistently and faithfully loving me. Even when I broke your heart and disappointed you, time and time and time again, you loved me through it. Watching you on your knees for your oldest for so many years, broken hearted and discouraged at times, and yet fervently loving her and her friends, welcoming them into your home and meeting them right where they were…molded other-worldly principles into my young heart.
Thank you for instilling in me a genuine love for people. A deep satisfaction in being the lifter of other’s chins and an encourager of their hearts.
You have so stunningly modeled the Father’s heart for his people. Thank you for teaching me how to lavishly love. To not be afraid of touching people. Really touching them. So many people are starved of healthy affection, and its hilarious watching stiff people warm up to a tender touch {ahem, Kay, ahem…}. You lived this. Now it is one of my strengths and delights, and it is due to you and dad so faithfully fleshing it out in front of us.
Thank you for showing me what a strong, confident, teachable leader looks like. You have played such a tremendous role in developing my passion for loving leadership. Not just loving leadership…but a leadership that loves at its very core.
Thank you for being such a stellar example of what a woman in love with God looks like. The delight and love and enjoyment you experience in your pursuit of His heart has left an ineffaceable impression on my life, and those of the many women who have walked alongside you. You are constantly digging in deeper, eagerly learning and growing. Your determination to not put Him in a box has made your walk with Him a never-ending adventure. Thank you for showing me what a relentless, strong trust in His power to provide looks like. The ups and downs of the road my little family have walked have been much easier to process with the ingrained ability to rest in Him. The delicious anticipation of how He’s going to come through in the midst of a trial is something I have experienced my whole life.
Thank you for being willing to be in a place where you and dad needed to see a miracle, hard as it was…seeing Gods stunning faithfulness and extravagant {albeit last-minute} provision in our lives has boosted my faith unbelievably.
Thank you for living out how to process through disappointment and heartbreak in a healthy way. You have truly modeled how to make sweet lemonade from the sour lemons you’ve found yourself ‘dealt’. Thank you for teaching me to take a broken heart to the Father, allowing Him to mend my wounds and lift my chin.
You are committed to seeing me succeed in every area of my life. What a joy it is to have a cheerleader like you standing in the wings.
You are a constant source of inspiration, wisdom, strength and encouragement to me and I am so incredibly grateful that God blessed me with you. As my mother, and as a precious friend.
I couldn’t imagine life any other way. So yes, I guess I’m spoiled. And I’m really quite okay with that.
You are truly a present-day picture of the Proverbs 31 woman, and it delights my heart to “rise up and call you blessed”.
Happy {belated} birthday, sweet momma.
I love you more than words could ever express {but I figured I’d try}.
Your Joybells
