Now that Taytem is reading fluently, I decided to write her a letter this year about what I’m thankful for.  She has been a bit grumbly and complain-y lately, so I thought she needed to see a better example from me.  I gave this to her Thanksgiving morning and she loved getting a letter.  Obviously, it doesn’t have to apply just to Thanksgiving day – write to your children anytime about what you are thankful for.  If they’re old enough to read, it’s often easier to get through to them with written words than spoken ones.  Have you written to your child lately?

Dear Taytem,

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving.  It’s a wonderful holiday that reminds us of the many things God has given us to be thankful for.  One of the best things that God has given me is your Daddy, Eisley, and you.  Your Daddy is such a good man who loves me, and both of you girls so much, and more importantly, he loves God.  God made your Daddy into a handsome, smart, fun, hard-working and loving man – so I am very thankful to God for Daddy.

I’m also thankful that God gave you a little sister in Eisley.  She loves you so much and I know you both will be great friends for the rest of your lives because God has given you a special love for each other.  I know you will both take good care of each other and share many wonderful memories together.

And I’m thankful to God for you.  God made you beautiful, He made you smart, and I know He is working in your heart so that you will grow to love Him more and more each day.  God is also teaching me a lot through being your Mommy, and He’s working in my heart also, to be a better Mommy and to learn more how to be like Jesus.  I love you so much!  You will ALWAYS be my Sugarbean.  I like you, I love you, and I accept you for who God made you to be.  Always remember that, okay?

Most of all, I’m thankful for Jesus.  Without Jesus, we could never be as happy of a family.  Without Jesus, Daddy and I just would be lost.  We sin just like everybody else, but Jesus helps us to see our sins and to look to Him for help so that we can be more like Him.  Because Jesus lives in our hearts, we are full of love, and it’s growing more and more all the time.

When I was four years old I asked Jesus to come into my heart, and He has been my best friend ever since.  He has protected me, He has given me many blessings, but most of all, He has always been there to be my friend and my savior.  I love Him so much, and I am thankful that God is answering my prayers for you, that you are growing in your love for Jesus and that we can be best friends with Him together.  His love is so good, Taytem.  It’s the best thing there is in the whole universe!

So always know that I love you so so so much, and I am very thankful for you.  But most of all, know that when Mommy, Daddy, Eisley, Grandma, Grandpa, or Papa says that they love you, it’s really one of God’s special ways of telling you how much HE loves you.  God is loving you through us!  And that is something to be very, very thankful for.

Love, Mommy

The other day as I unpacked some things from the mountain of moving boxes in our dining room, I came across my old planner.  I sat down to peruse the naive and lofty goals I’d set for that year that I’m sure I never fulfilled.  Then I came to a small piece of paper that contained the first letter I ever wrote to Taytem, before her name was Taytem, before we even knew she was a girl.  It was my first correspondence with my daughter filled with all the hope and affection that a young mother’s heart could contain.

I had continued to write to Taytem throughout my pregnancy: advice on living a healthy lifestyle, on managing finances well, on relationships.  After she was born, I kept up every now and then on the letter, especially on her birthdays, attempting to make sure I said the things that were truly important knowing how day-to-day Life often gets in the way of us saying what’s most important.

As I looked through my own handwriting, I suddenly realized something, and raced up the stairs to the craft closet where I keep all of our photos and special mementos.  I found the right box, pulled out the papers and began to read.  My mom had published a family magazine for many years, and even though she’d never sent them directly to me, most issues contained a column she wrote entitled “Dear Elle”.  I’d never read the letters before, always thinking it was strange and impersonal that she would write me these letters, publish them in her magazine, but never actually give me a letter.

But as I began to read them for the first time, they weren’t impersonal at all, and the lessons she’d taught me by example all those years were now in printed form, filled with all the hope and affection that a mother’s heart could contain.

I’m sharing them with you because she wanted them to be shared, or else she wouldn’t have published them in her magazine.  She wasn’t just a biological mother to three children, but rather a spiritual mother to many, and the words of her letters are meant for you as much as they were meant for me:

“Dear Elle,

Remember my morning rule:  The morning is the Lord’s?  Never, never, never turn on the TV when you get up!  Never engage in loud, boisterous talk in that first hour after rising.  Let all conversation and interaction with others be done with the awareness that this is God’s time – it is Holy.

Norman Vincent Peale said, “Every morning, lean your arm a while upon the window seat of heaven; then with that vision in your heart, turn strong to meet the day.”

King David said, “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” Psalm 5:3

“Oh God, You are my God; early will I seek You.”

Don’t look at the cares of the day until you’ve looked into the face of God.  He will transform your perspective of the day.  Don’t see anyone else until you’ve seen God First.  Robert Murray McCheyne said, “I ought to pray before seeing anyone.  I feel it is far better to begin with God – to see His face first – to get my soul near Him before it is near another.”

If I taught you nothing else as a mother, this alone would be enough, to direct you to the Teacher.  He guides you into all truth.  He walks with you when you seek Him first.  Every godly mother wants to walk life with her children, seeing that they make right decisions, that they walk with integrity, that they find favor with God and man.  But they can’t do that.  Jesus knew that He was not the One assigned to walk out life with His disciples.  He understood that He had to turn them over to the One Who was coming to be their Teacher and Guide.  ”It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”  John 16:7

When His assignment to them as their Teacher was finished, He pointed them to the One who would never leave them or forsake them; the One who would guide them into all truth.

So…Meet your Teacher every morning.  Begin each day by getting in the yoke with Him.  Drink from His living water every morning – it will carry you through the day.  Feast on His Presence.

Remember:  The morning is His and it is to be kept holy  Teach this to your children.

Love, Mom