Happy Birthyday Mama (2 days early!)

Hi Mom ;)

I know your reading this! I was sad that I wouldn't be able to be here for your birthday, but couldn't go without writing this and letting you know how much I love you...and how very thankful I am for you!

You are a woman whose example I would love to learn from. The ways you sacrificed for us growing up has left a lasting impression on all of our hearts, and I hope to one day be able to emulate your example to my own children. Even beyond all of this Mom thank you for your passion and zeal after the Lord! All the years that all of us were on wayward paths you "prayed with out ceasing" knowing that God would draw us back to Him and that the seeds that you and Dad sowed in our lives would one day sprout and bear fruit. Thank you for your faith Mom, and now you get to see that fruit in our lives and rejoice in knowing that all of those years of laboring and sowing were not in vain.

Thank you also Mom for the times you wept with me when I was suffering, the years that the hospital became our second home, the way you had to divide your time between me and your 4 other children. You never made me feel as though I was a burden to you...even when it wasn't easy to be around me it felt as though you never left my side. Mom, there were times that just having you near was enough for me to be brave! I remember the little songs you would sing to me "Be strong and of good courage, be thou not afraid!!" or the times you would recite whole psalms to me when I was in the hospital and terrified. It's hard to believe all that we have walked through together, and now we can look back and see how good God has been to us! Thank you for lending me your strength when I was too weak, and for teaching me to trust in the Lord, to "lean on the Rock", and to "look up to the hills where my help comes from"

I love you Mom, you have left such a deep impression in my life and I can't imagine the crown you will receive in heaven! I'm so thankful for your life....Happy Birthday; )

Love,
Laura

Here is my little tribute to you!
(Song lyrics "Kingdom Comes" by Sara Groves)

When anger fills your heart
When in your pain and hurt
You find the strength to stop
You bless instead of curse

When doubting floods your soul
Though all things feel unjust
You open up your heart
You find a way to trust




That's a little stone that's a little mortar
That's a little seed that's a little water
In the hearts of the sons and the daughters
The kingdom's coming



When fear engulfs your mind
Says you protect your own
You still extend your hand
You open up your home


When sorrow fills your life
When in your grief and pain
You choose again to rise
You choose to bless the name



That's a little stone that's a little mortar
That's a little seed that's a little water
In the hearts of the sons and the daughters
The kingdom's coming


In the mundane tasks of living
In the pouring out and giving
In the waking up and trying
In the laying down and dying



That's a little stone that's a little mortar
That's a little seed that's a little water
In the hearts of the sons and the daughters
The kingdom's coming