5 till One- Birthday Countdown

Dear Children-

I began this post as a letter to Ellie 5 days before her birthday, but all of these apply to all of you.  Here are 5 little nuggets of advice from your mother:

1.  Get to know your Maker.  And by Maker, I mean the one and only Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior.  As much as your dad and I want to be your "everything", even we cannot love you and be there for you like Jesus can.  It is inevitable- everyone you know will eventually, at some point let you down. God will not.  I promise that I will show Him to you in every way that I can.

2.  Stick with it.  Never quit.  Never give up.  I am referring to marriage here, honey.  Your dad and I don't know what it is like to have parents that are still married, but we'd both probably say that is the one thing in our lives that we long for no matter how old we get.  Some people may make marriage look easy all the time- and maybe for them it is.  For the rest of us, however, marriage can be tough.  The absolute best advice on marriage that I can give you is to love, unconditionally, no matter what.  In the best of times, marriage will be fun, exciting and easy.  But in the hard times remember this: Love your spouse through the eyes of God completely unselfishly.  Seek the good in your spouse and honor the commitment you made.  Always.

3.  To have a friend, be a friend.  Be the friend you want to have.  Take the risk, share your heart, be OK with being vulnerable and open.  True "heart/sister/brother friends" are more valuable than gold.  Unlike family who you don't choose, friends become your friends because you WANT them to be.  Guard your heart and use discretion when choosing your friends.  But, when you do discover that a person is worthy of your love and friendship- give your heart freely to them and love them unconditionally.  Should a problem arise between you and a heart/sister/brother friend- approach, talk it out and move on.  Chances are you will be closer afterward. 

4. Tithe.  I cannot even begin to tell you how important this one is.  EVERYTHING you have comes from God, we owe HIM everything, so please, at the very least, give back to Him what is biblically required.  Give joyfully and with thanksgiving.  I promise you that the Lord rewards the faithful.  And while we are on the subject of giving...give your time, your talents, your resources to those in need.  You will think it is you who is giving, but in the end, you will be the one walking away with the greatest reward.

5.  Write, record, type, photograph...document your life and the life of your family.  You won't ever regret anything you do to capture your history and the history of your spouse and children.  You will enjoy looking back to see where you've been, what you've looked like and reflecting on God's blessings in your life.

Well, there you have it.  5 little pieces of advice from me among thousands that I will probably give you in your lifetime.

WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW:
Tate: Accidentally just slung toothpaste all over Brit.
Brit: Crying about being covered in toothpaste.
Ellie: Sleeping peacefully in your crib.
Dad: In Michigan oblivious to it all. :-)