Remember to Cherish the Moments-- Before you know it, Your baby will be a Bride

My youngest daughter, Becca, got married three days ago, and it was one of our family’s most important and joyous life moments. In the aftermath of the wedding, I am reflecting on various memories and moments with this beautiful young woman.

On this special occasion, I first want to share moments I don’t regret from our family and ministry and, secondly, some of the special memories I have of you, Rebecca.

To all of you moms of babies and younger children, I hope this encourages you to not rush through life and take time to enjoy moments and to do the important things.

Here are some things I did that I don’t regret doing:

Praying as a family before meals, at night, and before you left for school so you would know how important you are to God.

Making you go to church and class every Sunday—yet figuring how to make it the best for you, so you would know how important worshipping God is.
Holding the laughter back so you would know I would be someone you could talk to and that I would take your frustrations seriously.
Reading you Bible stories so you’d know our amazing God and how He wants us to live.
Having family dinners, so you’d have a time and place we could be together and share moments from our day… even if they were bad days, quick dinners, or fast food.
Sending you to church camp, conferences, and retreats with the church youth group so you’d learn to know what fun being a Christian is and that you’d learn to love Jesus.
Getting you a dog so you would overcome your fears and experience the sweet companionship of a pet. (Becca and I both are dog people!)

Sending you overseas on mission’s trips so you’d see how privileged you are, how serving others matters, and that God uses ordinary people, even though it tested my own faith.

Attending all your concerts, recitals, Madrigal dinners, and soccer games, even though I sometimes had other things I wanted to do.

Modeling how to serve God, having a ministry job and still making my family feel important.

Making you do chores around the house so you’d know the importance of work, helping, and being responsible.
Allowing you to serve at church so you, too, could serve God and were important to His kingdom, even though it might mean I’d have to drive you to church one more time.
Being home when you got home from a trip so I didn’t miss your chatter, excitement, stories, and memories.
Helping you be your best, spiritually, emotionally, and physically, so you might have self-confidence to live for Christ.
Allowing you to have friends over to our house even though it was more work, less privacy, and less rest for your dad and I, so I could know your friends and what they were like.
Not allowing you to talk rude to your sisters without consequences so that one day you would be best friends and be each other’s “Maids/Matrons of Honor.”

Taking a weekend away with you alone to read and talk about self-esteem, insecurity, and healthy God-made sex, all so you might have a stronger marriage one day, and in hopes you wouldn’t fall into Satan’s schemes and lies of how great promiscuity is.
Allowing you to go to college far away, so you might develop your heart and mind and meet the amazing young man who is now your husband.

Special Memories I’ll never forget:

When you were baby Jesus at church at the age of 2-½ months old and your daddy was Joseph. Your eyes connected with his as he sang “Joseph’s Song.”

When you would toddle around following your two big sisters, being game to be in their shows, and being taught how to curtsy.

Hearing you talk without your “r’s” – the woods (words) you would say in your precious little voice still are strong in my memory.
Seeing how you loved to swim even at as a little toddler.
Seeing you in the pink ballerina outfit you got for Christmas day after day after day after day… until I finally talked you into letting me wash it.

Seeing you go from terrified of dogs to having long sweet conversations with our little dogs. You’ve always been my dog girl!

Letting you watch “Arthur” every day after kindergarten while having a special lunch mom had made you.
Watching you walk up the slide on the bunk beds your daddy had made while holding my breath!
Seeing how excited you were when I’d make “box macamoni and cheese.” (Sorry, girls, it was her favorite and such a bummer it wasn’t healthy!)
Watching you admire your sisters and the cool activities they were in.
Sitting with you through many school band concerts until it was your turn.
Hearing you practice the piano so many hours.

Seeing you so excited for Vacation Bible School that you could hardly sleep the night before.
Watching you lug that big ole French horn to school for band.
Taking you to the orthodontist and then getting a milkshake for that hurting mouth full of braces.

Seeing your proud smile after those braces came off.

Watching you love serving little children at church.
Seeing you so involved in your youth group.

Watching how you would communicate and interact in Spanish with the Costa Ricans and help with eye exams so they could get glasses then saying to me “Mom, that older woman cried when I put the glasses on her!”

Seeing how you loved going on missions trips and how you would lead 2nd grade children in Africa in VBS with very little notice, tag-teaming with your family.

Seeing how mad you’d get at your sister because she’d borrow something and not put it back. (You know who you are, L!)
Laughing our heads off so many times in life after some crazy experiences!