To My Girls

To my girls, Lily and Sadie:

You are each the apple of my eye. When I held you in my arms for the first time, a love so powerful and overwhelming overtook me. I was possessed by it. I was so smitten with every little squall that exited your lungs, with each of your tiny fingers and toes, with your feathery eyelashes, and your ruby lips that made sucking motions even in your sleep! I would call the nurses in the hospital and ask them to bring you to my room so I could hold you and cuddle you and just plain stare at you. And, believe me, I could do that for hours!

When your daddy and I brought you home from the hospital, I couldn't stay away from you for long. If you were sleeping, I would have to check on you to make sure that you were breathing and to feel the enthrallment of the waves of love and protection that pervaded every fiber of my body. It was as if every sensory ability in my body became heightened as I watched over you night and day.

Both of your births were exhilirating for me. I think giving birth to you was probably the highlight of my life. The powerful contractions that enabled my body to bring you into this beautiful world and the way that everything Jesus created in a mothers body to carry you for nine months and work together to birth you are nothing short of miraculous. As painful as it was, I truly enjoyed every moment of it, natural and drug free.

I am still in awe of how every milestone you reach, whether it be rolling over, sitting up unassisted, crawling, pulling up, standing, walking, eating on your own, saying your first words, recognizing pictures, singing your first song, dancing, jumping, expanding your vocabulary, or going potty by yourself, is so joyful to me that it is as if it was my own victory.

And I want you to know that every victory you achieve in life will be like my own! I will rejoice with you! And every sorrow you experience will pain me as if it was my own as well. And I will shed tears as you shed tears. For I know it is a part of my legacy to help you grow and struggle and learn. You are so much a part of my life; I still can't go more than a few minutes away from you without pangs in my heart of longing to hug you and kiss you. Lily and Sadie, I love you!

To my girls: I would do anything for you.