I read the most touching note left by the daughter of a good friend. Paraphrasing:
Happy Birthday to the best mom. I am so proud of you for being so strong through our journey.Why I teared up is because this young lady fought through breast cancer this last year. All the while her mom internalized all that her daughter was going through. To have her daughter use the word “proud” is just an overwhelming compliment. As a parent, we sometimes think we are the weak ones. We can’t love our kids enough. Or we feel ashamed that we are not holding up better. Or that somehow we failed as a parent in all of our imperfections.
Now on the other side what a way for a daughter to reflect in such a beautiful way as to how they clung to each other. How they embraced living through this awful diagnosis. Isn’t that what we want as parents? For our child(ren) to know that we not only walk beside but the love we have is so deep in our core that we would take the diagnosis, the pain, the hurt, the confusion, the negativity, or anything that is all consuming eating away at the well-being of our child(ren).
I know reassurance is valuable. I just want any parent to know you are worthy to be praised. Not out of arrogance or selfishness, but it is the result of all the work you put into your child(ren). The result of that hard work is in the words of my dear friend’s daughter. To tell your kids you are proud of them is one thing, but how many kids have told their parents how proud they are of them. Just such a beautiful connected bond on display!
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck” (Proverbs 1: 8-9).
“Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children” (Proverbs 17:6).
What an honor, but this is how I see my dear friend through the eyes of her daughter:
Proverbs 31: 28-31
“Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Prayers for the relationships we have with our family, friends, work, and community. May healing be possible if bruised and broken. May blessings wash over all of you. Prayers over this generation that they are not overcome by the lie they cannot overcome adversity.
dreamsdontfade.com (check out my blog as I have a number of new posts: indoctrination, social justice fallacies-Thomas Sowell wisdom, government, and much more)
This song is perfect. If you haven’t seen “If You Can Only Imagine 2” it is one of those movies where you can see the imperfections of being a parent, but that there is a way to reconnect with your child at any age. The song “Even If” is about and was co-written by Tim Timmons who has cancer. It is a song about keeping faith when a physical healing doesn’t happen. I loved the song before, but it sure does move the heart-strings when you understand the song was written by a man facing the heaviest season of his life.
Side note: MercyMe Bart’s son also has a solo career. He goes by Sam Wesley and he has a great song I will share later, but if you want to look it out it is “Carry On.”
Tim Timmons has such an inspirational song called “Wake Me Up Again.” He puts an X on his wrist to remind himself:
I write an X on my wrist
Every day that I wake
'Cause sometimes I can forget
That I was wonderfully made
So why should I be afraid
When You put breath in my lungs?
So, every moment I get
God is beautiful With every part of me
I will bring my hallelujahs
All my worship to You
Every day You wake me up again
I will go where You are leading
Join in with You, Jesus
Every day You wake me up again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J1CKnye7hg&list=RDB6fA35Ved-Y&index=2