Nine years ago I birthed a blessing straight from heaven… my Raegan.  This morning I crept into her room and smiled as I saw that beautiful freckle-face, eyes closed, mouth gaped open, snoring softly… how could it be that nine years have passed?  She is my firstborn, my baby, and now she perches on the cusp of young womanhood.  She is fiery and independent, full of words and thoughts and opinions of her own.  How did that happen?  She’s full of life, as she’s always been, but that life is becoming more and more her own with each passing day.  I’ve tried so hard to teach and instruct her, yet now I find that I have been learning all along… learning to be a mom, learning to make and accept mistakes, learning to bend, learning the true meanings of love and grace… learning that this crazy life is full of surprises and unplanned events, and none of it is about me.

So, happy birthday to my sunshine in what so often can be a dark world, to my firstborn, my daughter, my Rae… so glad that God gave us you.