Happy 18th Birthday, My Precious Michaela!

Sweet baby girl,

.

I want so much for you to know

how much I love you.

.

You are so beautiful inside and out!

You have grown into a lovely young woman,

and you are blessed by God in so many ways...

from your uncanny ability to make friends

who stick by you and you by them

through the thick and the thin,

to your musical abilities,

to your tenacious, never-say-quit,

fearless, overcoming attitude,

to your rock-steadiness and ability to

commit without wavering,

to being an awesomely obedient child

and honoring your father and your mother(s)

(as I've always told you, God is going to bless you

with long life on the earth for doing so),

to the trust you place in the LORD...

My sweet baby girl, you are an awesome

young lady and blessed, blessed, blessed!

.

I know I am critical of you sometimes,

but it's only because I have experienced

so much more of life, and I can often

see that the path you are taking

today may not take you where

you want to be tomorrow.

.

I know, too, that you are still young,

and you have to experience life for

yourself. But if I can, I just want to

spare you some of the pain I had to

go through on my own path in life.

.

When the right words don't come with all I

want to say, I can still say this:

I love you tremendously! I would do

anything for you. And I promise I will

try to be more patient and understanding

without always interjecting my words of wisdom

as I let go and allow you to fly on your own.

I pray that you will be patient with me, too,

and understand my concern when I'm just not

able to hold my tongue.

.

I ask only two things of you:

that you continue to love and

fear the LORD,

and that you continue to tell me

that you love me, too,

because that's all I need from you!

.

I love you!

Love, Mom