My Kate

Happy birthday, Katie Rose! I thank God for all that He's given us in you. I know that you are loved and appreciated by many, as wife, mother, Daddy's girl, sister, friend, in-law, granddaughter, niece and cousin, etc. In a real sense you don't belong to me, and the full story of what your life means in a larger sense is still unfolding. But today my heart is full of the perspective that is mine to contribute. And I'd like to try to share a little of what being your mother has meant to me.

Your birth day is 21 years, and many miles distant, but real and present with me today. I remember the echo of stone corridors in Herrera Llerandi Hospital in Guatemala. Fear. Hope. Pain. And grace. Then you—a little flower of a person, the delicate first born image of your father. You looked right through me. I quaked.

How to mother this tiny-huge eternal soul?

Looking back, I find no clue in me. Not even sufficient wisdom to fully realize my poverty—ignorant, isolated, far from home. What I do see in that backward look is a powerful current of grace, bearing us up and on. And that has been the theme for these many years. We, each and all of us in this preciously peculiar constellation of a family, carried, borne along, and tenderly taught by the always-good Shepherd, Jesus.

It's hard to distill all that I wish to say into a few words, but at the heart of it is this: Being a mother is one the chief joys of my life. And I'm thankful that God brought you, particularly, to make me one. He has used this lesser love (relative to love for Himself) to cause me to persevere toward the greater. Over and over I have seen how this childbearing saves—how for your (and the other three precious ones') sake I look up and cling until God lifts my vision even higher. Of Himself and His glory to live for.

You've been just the traveling companion I needed on this upward journey. What a time we've had! Even as a little girl, you were good company—my right hand through thick and thin. The extreme times, the moves, and travels, sickness, and changes just sort of sealed your place there.

I can't help but mention my cancer days here. I weep to think of how faithfully you cared for me, this home, and the whole family, at ages 14 and 15. Those were hard, hard days, but to see you proven in that suffering is one of God's dearest gifts to me, as your mother.

Your:
hard work
can do attitude
love and respect for Daddy
sister-mother heart for your siblings
love of learning
delight in all things domestic
eye for beauty
creative energy (!)
'blood earnestness' for Jesus
missionary heart
faithfulness in hard times
sewing and singing
prairie skirts and poke bonnets
dimply smile
sparkling wit
sweet spirit

warmed the home you grew up in. We still benefit from that warmth and I'm thankful.

Now you are old enough to be called 'adult' by the rest of the world. Yet, I've already watched you blossom as you've taken on a woman's joys and borne a woman's sorrows at a tender age. You are building a house of love and faith—honoring God, but also Daddy and me by the life that you embrace. Thank you for continuing to bring blessing on our graying heads. Be blessed today, Grown-up Girl. May you be carried on the current of God's mercy and grace, all the days of your life.