Ode to my Momma...

One tradition that Trevor started after I gave birth to Elias was to make as the boys' birthdays special for me as well as for them. His logic was that I worked harder on that day to give life to our kids and that they need to be grateful for it. Every birthday, he's gotten the boys to buy me a card and a gift thanking me for what I went through.

And now it's my Mom's turn.

Twenty nine years ago tomorrow, you gave birth to a screaming little redhead, Mom.... me. Thank you so much for all you've done for me over the years. For teaching me the little things in life like how to spell my name and the bigger things like how to cope with the loss of Grandpa. Thank you for showing me what love looks like, because with your servant's heart love showed through every thing you did, from doing up the bulletin for McDougal and playing the role of pastor's wife to the nth degree year after year, being everything to everyone, to playing with my hair when I was sick. Your love language has to be acts of service because even though I didn't recognize it growing up, the way you kept the house in order was one of your ways of showing Dad and us kids that you loved us. Thank you for worrying about me and praying for me. Thanks for answering my incessant cooking dilemmas in my first year of marriage and for praising my successes now. For teaching me how to love God and how to be a Mom to my kids. I love you Mom. Thanks for having me.