My sweet Cam-a-Lam,
Tonight
as your daddy and I laid you down in your crib at bedtime, I felt (as I
have so many times since you were born) overwhelmed with love for you.
I want you to know that I wish with all of my heart that as your Mom, I
could protect you from the things of the world that you'll encounter as
you grow. I wish I could protect you from sickness, hurt, mean words,
false standards, meaningless values, cuts and scrapes, heartache and
disappointment. I wish I could keep you away from the world, and let
you be pure and innocent your entire life. I wish I could hold your
heart in my hand and keep it safe from ever being hurt or let down or
broken. But tonight, I am gripped by the reality that I cannot keep you
protected from the world, but I can teach you how to approach it, and
how to love people even after they hurt you. And truthfully, Campbell, I
want to teach you the most important lesson there is to learn - that
God loves you even more than I ever could. That lesson in itself holds
all of the answers to the hurts of life.
I've
become overwhelmed tonight with the fact that the lesson of God's love
and sacrifice for you and for the world is in fact what matters most.
Your daddy and I pray for your salvation every single day. We've prayed
for your salvation since before you were born. And we pray that your
life would have great impact on the world because of your realization of
God's love for you. He loves you so much, Campbell. In fact, thanks
to you, I can better understand God's love for me, too. Sometimes I
think it's funny how a lot of people don't get to have a more complete
understanding of God's love until we get to be parents ourselves.
We often go through so much life with so little insight.
But
thanks to you, your daddy and I can understand a little bit better how
much God has lavished His love on us, because we feel such overwhelming
love for you. Thanks for helping us learn that lesson.
I
pray, Campbell Grace, that you live a life that is worth something
greater than the values of the world. I pray you have courage when
confronted, that you will always be wise beyond your years, and that you
will love God far above everything else. I will always do my best to
protect you. But I will also always do my best to trust God for your
protection, because His hand controls all that I cannot.
I truly love you, sweet baby. I can't wait to see who you become.
Love, Mommy
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