Dear Momma

 

To My Momma,

YOU’RE IN AFRICA! In just one days time, I get to hug your precious little neck! I get to kiss those cheeks that match my own! I get to show you a part of my life, a part of my heart! I get to see your whole entire face, since you don’t wear your glasses when we FaceTime. I haven’t seen your chin since August! I don’t remember what it looks like.

To say I am excited is quite the understatement. This is a moment that we had talked about before my feet left the US of A.

I’m standing at a weird cornerstone today. On the one hand, I am so excited to see you, hug you and tell you all of the things. To let you play with my hair and see a part of the life I have had the opportunity to live for the last eight months, because this month is pretty incredible.

I am excited for you to see what the Lord has been calling me to for the last ten years. The very idea that made you laugh way back then.

I am excited for you to encounter and meet Jesus in ways you never imagined. I am excited for Him to restore you, to redeem you, to give you all the hope and dreams you may have given up on because that is what He does best!! I know because I’ve seen it.

I am excited that you just flew across the Atlantic Ocean to be outside of your comfort zone, to be pushed into new things!

I am excited to show you the love of Jesus, through serving and working alongside of you, to worship alongside of you and enjoy the beauty that Africa and all of its people have to offer!

I am excited for you to meet the people on my teams and squad who have been shaping me, encouraging me, carrying me all of these months! I am excited to watch them love you as much as I do, because they will.

I am excited for you to have your heart broken by little hungry bellies whose hands reach up to be held and comforted, by adults who have struggled to find the right way after falling away, by the brokenness and sadness that needs a Savior.

I am excited for this intentional time that we have to spend together, to invest in our relationship and to make beautiful memories that we can cherish forever!

I am just so excited! I am excited for all of these things that you get to experience but I am mostly excited for you to see your baby!

In the same way, I’m a little bit nervous. Because I feel like in a way, tomorrow I am introducing you to a new friend that I hope, desperately, that you love. Your baby is still your baby but I pray that you also meet and love the daughter who has found freedom, life and light

A daughter who doesn’t carry the weight on her shoulders.

A daughter who walks in boldness and confidence.

A daughter who loves and serves without expectation.

A daughter who is forgiven much and forgives much.

A daughter who walks in grace and gentleness.

A daughter who has found her identity as a daughter of The King, not in accomplishments or failures.

A daughter whose heart is full of hope and expectation of what is to come, not fear or apprehension.

A daughter who radiates joy that is all consuming and contagious, rooted in Jesus so deeply it’s almost annoying. Almost.

A daughter who has experienced the transformative power of the Holy Spirit and is a new creation because of it!

Mostly, Momma, I hope you see the Daughter I’ve become while I’ve been gone. I hope she’s unrecognizable!

I love you, Momma!!!!!

Now come get your baby!

XO (lots of those!!!)

 

M

 

(ps! Missing my Daddy and Johnboy something so terribly fierce. Wish you were here!)