On Mother’s Day about four years ago, I gave my children a gift. And this Mother’s Day, I am re-gifting it to them. Why re-gift? It made an impression then, but now, as teenagers, we are having more conversations about how to navigate through life, make big decisions, manage relationships, and cling to each other. These words are my heart and my instructions for them, every day, all the time, for their entire life.

To Emma and Cole:

Be who God created you to be and utilize the gifts He gave you.

Work hard, as unto the Lord.

Be authentic enough to ask for prayer and help when you need it.

When others ask for help and prayer, give it, without hesitation, in equal measure.

When you make a mistake, tell the truth, ask for forgiveness, and move on. Don’t let your mistakes define you.

Operate in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. No one can fault you for those.

If you have a question, seek out the answer and root the answer in His word.

Find God’s plan for you and follow it step by step, even if it looks different that others’ plan.

Allow others to be who God made them to be and love them.

Don’t let others define you, let God do that.

Put others first, so God can be proved through you.

Base your prayers in His word, it will guide your way, every time.

Guard your heart for Him and train it, it is your path to life.

Realize often how blessed you truly are.

In hard times, times of friction and pain, use all your strength to look up.

Live your life in the knowledge of the joy God provided through Jesus’ death on the cross.

Trust, hope, and love. Your inheritance, the one that really matters, is in heaven.

Always know, that you are God’s gift, to me and to the world. I am humbled that He gave you to me for a time.

By His Grace