Dear Ruthie...

Dear Ruthie,

I wish I could tell you what you mean to me. I wish I could make you understand the incredible gift you are to your dad and I. I see a beautiful, precious creation made by God, one we were gifted with and entrusted with to care for. I hope and pray daily that I do Him well by being your mom. That I can teach you about Him, His grace and about Jesus. That you will put your hope and trust in Jesus, love Him, follow Him, serve Him and teach others about Him.

Please have some grace for your dad and I. We try so hard, but we are not perfect and often fail and screw up and don't know what to do and this will probably go on your entire life. Just know that even in the middle of our mistakes and failures we truly desire to love you well and want what is best for you....even if you may not see it that way. We realize you will grow, change and develop your own opinions but we really do hope and pray that you will come to us with everything.

In these first two months of your life I have cried, laughed, gotten mad, felt lost and confused and loved you more fiercely than I thought possible. I have learned to be more patient, more selfless and to slow down. Thank you for teaching me that. I have so much to learn from you. I am already delighting to see you growing, changing, exploring and figuring out this world we live in. But it also grieves my heart knowing that you will all too soon be 18 and heading out the door into the real world. So I want to cherish these moments as much as possible. Having you was like God taking my heart and having it walk around outside of myself.

Do not ever forget how much we love you and are here for you. Even more importantly how much God loves you and is there for you. Keep on growing honey, but not too fast.... And always remember that even when you are 30, you will be my little girl.

Love Always with all my heart,
Mom