My Daughter-In-Love

 My Sweet Ashton,

Today is the day I’ve prayed for longer than you could ever imagine.

This morning, I wrote Trey a letter and told him that he was the very first person I ever prayed for with my whole heart. The moment I found out I was pregnant with him, my prayers changed forever.

But there’s something I want you to know.

Only moments after I began praying for him, I unknowingly began praying for you.

I didn’t know your name. I didn’t know what you looked like. I didn’t know where you lived, what family would raise you, what talents you’d have, what would make you laugh, or what dreams God had placed in your heart.

I simply knew that somewhere, somehow, there would one day be a young woman who would love my son, and I began asking God to prepare her.

That young woman was you.

Without either of us knowing it, you became the second person I have prayed for the longest in my entire life.

You have always been wanted.

You have always been loved.

Long before we ever met, there was a place in my prayers reserved just for you.

Today, I finally get to put a name and a face to the woman I’ve been talking to God about for over three decades.

What an incredible blessing that is.

I’ve always wanted the very best for Trey. Every parent hopes their child finds someone who not only loves them, but truly sees them, challenges them, encourages them, and helps them become the very best version of themselves.

When I met you, I realized that God had answered those prayers in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

You are a beautiful soul.

Your kindness, your gentleness, your character, your warmth, and the quiet strength you carry make you exactly the kind of person I hoped would someday walk beside my son.

You don’t complete him because he wasn’t incomplete.

You complement him.

You bring out beautiful parts of one another, and I cannot wait to watch the life the two of you build together.

I’ve often smiled watching your personalities. You’re so much alike in many ways that I think it’s going to be wonderful fun watching the two of you figure out who’s going to make the decisions, wtho’s going to keep the peace, and how you’ll write your own story together. Somehow I think you’ll both do a little of each, and that’s exactly how a great marriage grows.

There’s something else that’s very important for you to know.

I will probably never call you my daughter-in-law….I’ll call you my daughter-in-love because the law didn’t bring you into our lives, love did!

Your mom and dad have done an extraordinary job raising you into the woman you are today. They have loved you, shaped your character, and given the world an incredible gift. I am so deeply grateful to them for raising such a compassionate, thoughtful, and remarkable daughter.

I’ll probably even call you my daughter.

Not because I’m taking you away from your family.

But because my heart has simply made room for one more child.

I hope you’ll always know that you have a place with me that belongs to you alone.

I don’t only see you as Trey’s wife.

I see you as Ashton.

A woman with her own dreams, victories, worries, disappointments, adventures, and joys.

I hope you’ll come to me when life is wonderful.

I hope you’ll come to me when life is hard.

I hope you’ll laugh with me, celebrate with me, cry with me if you ever need to, and know that you will always have someone cheering you on.

I’ve prayed not only for your marriage, but for the relationship I would someday have with the people my children chose to love.

I have looked forward to you long before I knew who you were.

I can’t wait to share life with you.

And if someday you and Trey decide to bless this family with grandchildren…well, you’ve already seen enough of me to know I won’t be able to help myself. I’ll probably be just a little bit over the top. I’ll love those babies with everything I have, and I promise to share them gladly with your parents because they’re their grandchildren too.

My hope is that our families won’t simply become relatives.

I hope we become friends.

I hope we celebrate together, laugh together, support one another, and love each other deeply. I will love your family with my whole heart and respect them always because they’re the people who gave us you.

Today you’re going to be an absolutely breathtaking bride.

I already know that.

But what I’m looking forward to most isn’t your dress or the flowers or the music.

I can’t wait to watch my son’s face the moment he sees you walking toward him.

I have a feeling that will be one of the most beautiful moments of my life.

I know today will be joyful.

I know it will be memorable.

And I know that after waiting so patiently for one another, God has something incredibly special ahead for both of you.

Some people measure life by years.

I’ve learned that life is really measured in moments.

So don’t waste them.

Protect them.

Create them.

Laugh often.

Forgive quickly.

Dance in your kitchen.

Take pictures, but don’t forget to put the camera down sometimes.

Hold hands for no reason.

Choose each other every single day.

Love generously.

And never forget how many prayers brought the two of you to this moment.

I will never stop praying for you.

I will never stop loving you.

And today, with all the joy in my heart…

Welcome home, my sweet daughter.

I have been waiting for you for a very long time.

With all my love,

Tammy

The Boy’s Big Day

                 

To My Boy, 

It seems impossible that the morning of your wedding is finally here. I’ve spent so many years praying for this day that now that it’s arrived, I’m not sure my heart has enough words.

Before you become a husband today, I want you to know what it has meant to me to be your mom.

You made me a mother. You were my firstborn, and because of that, you changed every definition I had of life, love, sacrifice, joy, and purpose. People always say that having a baby changes your life, but no one ever told me just how much fun it would be. I had no idea that some of my greatest memories would come from getting down on the floor to play, watching you laugh while I chased you through the house on my hands and knees, discovering the world through your eyes, and finding happiness in the simplest moments. You taught me that life wasn’t just something to get through. It was something to delight in.

The truth is, we grew up together.

I was learning how to be a mom while you were learning how to be a little boy. I taught you how to walk, talk, and tie your shoes. But you taught me patience, courage, unconditional love, and how big a heart could become. I honestly believe I learned just as much from you as you ever learned from me. We shaped each other, and I will always treasure that.

You were wanted long before you were ever born.

Your dad and I hoped and prayed for you for months. Then, during a season when your dad was overseas during Desert Storm and life felt uncertain, you came along. Suddenly, instead of living every day worried about what tomorrow might bring, I had you growing inside me. You gave me hope. You gave me purpose. You reminded me that even in difficult times, God was still writing beautiful stories.

The day I found out I was pregnant with you, I began praying for you.

I prayed for your health, your character, your faith, your friendships, your future, and your happiness. But I also began praying for someone I had never met…your wife. Long before either of you knew the other existed, I was asking God to prepare her and to prepare you for each other. You were the first person I ever prayed for with that kind of persistence and passion. And after all these years, you are still the person I’ve prayed for the longest.

Watching you become the man you are today has been one of the greatest privileges of my life.

I know people often say you’re just like your dad, and there are certainly many wonderful things you’ve inherited from him. But every now and then, I catch a glimpse of myself in you, too. I see it in your love of cooking, in your appreciation for all kinds of music, and in the way your mind naturally looks beyond simple black-and-white answers. You have the ability to see different perspectives, to think deeply, and to form your own convictions. I smile every time I notice those pieces of me living on in you.

There are things about yourself that I don’t think you fully see.

You are stronger than you know. Steadier than you realize. More confident than you give yourself credit for. Your work ethic is something I’ve always admired. You don’t expect life to hand you anything. You work for what matters. You treat people with kindness and respect. You stand by your principles even when it isn’t easy. In a world that often rewards compromise, you have chosen character. I hope you never lose that.

More than anything, I’m simply proud of the man you are.

Not because of what you’ve accomplished, but because of who you have become.

You are an amazing human being.

And today, as I watch you marry the woman you love, my heart is overflowing. I couldn’t be happier with the person you’ve chosen to spend your life with. Ashton complements you beautifully, and I believe the two of you will make each other stronger, kinder, and better. It gives me such peace to know that the woman I’ve prayed for all these years has finally become a real person whom I know and love.

You waited thirty-four years for this day.

Some people marry younger and have more years together. But life isn’t measured by the number of years we receive. It’s measured by how intentionally we live them. Don’t waste a single ordinary Tuesday. Laugh often. Cook together. Dance in the kitchen. Take the long way home. Hold hands for no reason. Say “I love you” even when it’s obvious. Protect your friendship as fiercely as you protect your marriage. Choose each other every single day.

Build a home where grace is abundant, forgiveness is quick, laughter is loud, and love is never questioned.

And if one day the two of you bless me with grandchildren, I hope you know that I will love them with everything I have. Watching you become a father would be one of the greatest honors of my life because I already know the kind of dad you’ll be. The little boy who taught me so much about love has grown into a man who is ready to give that same love to his own family.

Thank you.

Thank you for making me a mother.

Thank you for teaching me as much as I ever taught you.

Thank you for every laugh, every hug, every lesson, and every memory.

No matter where life takes you after today, no matter how your family grows, no matter how many years pass, there will never be a day when you stop being my little boy.

I have loved you from the moment I knew you existed.

I have prayed for you every day since.

And I will continue to love and pray for you for the rest of my life.

Congratulations, my son.

Go love your wife with your whole heart.

I’m so incredibly proud of you.

Love always and forever,

Mom