The Best is Yet to Be.....

Annie-Laurie,

Twenty years ago today, God gave me the first of my two most precious gifts....a beautiful baby girl!   And, through you,  He showed me a new level of love that I'd never experienced or thought possible!  I remember rocking you when you were just a few days old, and thinking, 'She's so wise!!'  It struck me then that to think that a newborn baby girl could seem 'wise' was a little absurd, but that thought didn't change my perception.  And, as it turns out, that perception was absolutely right on the mark!

As you began to evolve into the beautiful woman that you are, I was so proud to watch your inner beauty even outshine your outer beauty, while that mysterious wisdom which God instilled in you has continued to grow beyond your years.  On that first of your birthdays, if your life had been lain out before me, and I'd been given the opportunity to orchestrate it exactly as I would have wanted it, there would definitely have been events that I would have chosen to remove.  However, watching you walk through those events with grace and a faith that's deeper than I can imagine has made me prouder than you'll ever know! 

You've been absolutely everything I could have dreamed for a daughter to be all rolled up into one little person!  I love that you have the femininity to be so much of a 'girly-girl' that you like shoes even more than I do!  And yet you also have enough spunk to feel completely at home on a football practice field!  Precisely the perfect blend of sugar and spice!!  In several cases, you've proven to be 'the voice of reason' within our family, and in the face of circumstances that would have positively derailed most adults, you've managed to maintain your focus and your faith in God, only to become stronger!  I truly AM amazed by you!

Today, as you turn 20, I want to tell you 'thanks' for your patience and your compassion, for being a hero to your brother, and for stepping up to the plate when it would have been completely understandable for you to fall apart.  You're MY hero, too, and I love you more than you know!

While I'd love to 'plan' your next 80-or so years, God has taught me that He's a much better planner than I could ever hope to be, and I have no doubt that He's got all that covered.  So I'll just enjoy watching it all unfold!!  The best is yet to be, My Love!!!

Happy Birthday!!

XOXO
Momma