Happy Birthday Steven

Dear Steven,

I have started to write this HAPPY BIRTHDAY note to you dozens of times.  I have pondered the wording in the early morning hours, mentally written sentences on the drives to and from work and fallen asleep reformatting in my head.  But somehow nothing seemed to quite hit the mark. The reality that you are turning 30 isn’t quite as shocking to me as is the reality that I am no longer 30 J

Where do I start…and where do I end?  How do I put down in words the fullness that is in my heart and my life because of you?

It’s challenging to remember life without you because you have always been a part of my heart.  I love that God answered the cry of my heart with such a precious you!  From the first moments of knowing that you were on your way, life has never been the same. 

You are the firstborn we had prayed for and you brought with you the fulfillment of “family”. 
With you came many things:
…the blessing of experiencing the sweetness of having a baby in the house ~it’s true, a baby changes everything.
...the joy of watching you grow, learn and take on the responsibilities of being the big brother to Danny and Billy.
…the delights of moving through childhood…the introduction to little league, homeschooling, competitive sports, driving lessons, and Bible Quiz.
…the pride of watching you mature into a fine young man with a heart for God.
…the tug on our hearts as you left home to follow the call on your heart.
…the realization that you were in the exact right place as you soared with every new adventure and fell in love with your Christina.
…the honor of walking through the planning of your engagement, proposal, and wedding.
…the enlarging of our hearts and our family with a new branch to our family tree, and a new generation arrived with the birth of your precious Blake…our warrior hero.  Our family story continues with a beautiful chapter that is unfolding daily with paragraphs about…Steven:  Son, brother, husband, father, pastor and friend. 

The days that have led up to today have been many.  The lessons you have learned have been powerful. You have dealt with success and failure with equal amounts of strength and character.  You have been humble in victory and gracious in defeat…and every day you bring the party with you. 

I love that I am the mother of three sons.  I love that you are my firstborn.  I love the lessons of life that you taught me along the way.  I love not only the person that you are, but also the person that I am today because you are in my life.

I could write and re-write this note to you, and never be completely satisfied with the end result because there simply are not words big enough to tell you what a treasure you are to my heart.

So…Happy Birthday, Steven….I love you tons and bunches...and always J ~ Mom