Congratulations my girl!

Dear Ginny,

You our middle child are a different child entirely.  You are compassionate, determined and joyful.  You have spunk that keeps us laughing.  I love your laugh and how you love to hang out with us.   As I anticipate you walking across that stage next weekend I am intrigued.  What intrigues me the most  about you is your strength.  I am not talking your physical strength but your ability to stand strong in your faith, your morals and your values.  Today as I was writing something down in my day-timer I noticed the scripture

SHE IS Strong PROVERBS 31:25

I looked up the verse and I immediately thought of you.

She is clothed with STRENGTH and DIGNITY SHE laughs without fear of the FUTURE 

Here we are, within 3 1/2  months you will have graduated, tried out for Edmonton Gold and we will have gone on a family trip to Alabama, a missions trip to N. Africa and we will have sent you off to college.  Somewhere in there you would have played some more rugby as well.  There are moments where we joke about me needing to breathe into a paper bag.  My heart does a squeezing thing on a regular basis lately.  What are you doing to me? :D

Putting my trust in God is something that I ultimately struggle with.  Yet I look at you and and you are are OVER THE MOON excited about all of it.  "This is the best time of my life."  Is something that you have said over and over again. It sure is baby girl. That is what I love about you.  You don't think about the "what if's".  You live in the moment, enjoying every second of life.  You aren't prideful, or in your face about any of it.  Your excitement radiates from you.  How you diligently pray for others quietly, without fear, shows me that you will make a wonderful friend, wife and mommy some day.  You are determined in all that you do yet not much can disappoint you when things don't work out the way they are planned.  You are everything a parent dreams of in their daughter.  

I know that soon I will have to let you go.  Soon is sooner than I anticipated.  God has such exciting plans for you though and I can't intervene in them only because I want you to stay little forever.  I am excited to see where this world will take you.  Always remember to stay true to yourself.  Believe that your heavenly Father is in control and he is ultimately your best friend.  You can turn to him for anything, at any moment.  Never forget that.  He may not always seem close but stay true to Him through the tough and the easy.

Wherever your journey in life may take you

I pray that you'll always be safe.

Enjoy the ride and never forget

your way back home.

I'm always here for you.

               
                                                                                                                                       love mom 

Here we go again.

It's nearly that time again.  Where does the time go?  It seems like just yesterday when our first born walked the stage and now we are nearing that time again.  You would think I would be a pro at this by now but the feeling is so different, yet so similar.  It's like I am going through this for the first time but I am also familiar of that "done" feeling.  We invested 12 years of waking up early, getting out the door on time, doing homework, packing lunches,  going on field trips, experiencing sadness, joy, and frustration, and in one brief moment it all comes to an end.  Now what?

For our firstborn in the last year we have watched him come out of his shell.  Things he struggled with are now a walk in the park.  Things we never thought he would accomplish ... HE has!  We are not entirely sure where his path may go but we are so proud of him for making the right choices.  He is cautious and questionable.  He is mature enough to see the concerns we have for his siblings and understand them. He has to test the waters before diving in. He is kind and considerate and oh so stubborn in his ways.  He brings a smile to our face with his wacky words and gestures.  I know that God has plans for him.  He just needs to see that for himself.  
                                                        *************************

Always a learning moment

Sometimes I get so caught up in parent hood that I forget the small details.  My biggest hang ups all come down to the simple fact that I am trying to create mini us's.  Do you know how long it took me to realize that?  17 years, 6 months 8 days, 4 hours and too many minutes.  Now that I have realized that, my first instinct is to turn back time.  To go back to that very moment when the simplest of cries bellowed from behind that blue curtain.  Yet I am quickly reminded of all the milestones, the joys of laughter, the tears, the struggles and the heartaches that I would have to endure all over again.  I need to remind myself that I have NOT messed them up.  It is all a matter of learning and guidance, for all of us.  For the last 10 years I have journaled our many trials and errors of parenting www.spinners2.blogspot.com We have guided them into both young and old teenagers now and although it doesn't stop here, it changed entirely.  For now we are no longer creating mini us's.  We are moulding them into perfect images of themselves.  We are continually learning to teach them new material, new methods, and new ways to cope in this crazy world that goes before them.  This new blog will be just that.  A legacy for my kids.  A way for me to share with them our trials, our mistakes and triumphs, all while being their parents.  A lesson in life that they can always look back on and know that we did our best in raising them, and it goes much further then they can imagine.  The fact that they are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."