Blog 7: “Mom & Dad, this one’s for you”
Final one of the 5 days of blogs! I hope all of these blogs have given you something nice from me to read 🙂
You always tell me I’m one of your favorite gifts from God, but I’m realizing that actually you are the best gift that God could’ve given me. It’s not the other way around. Being on the Race, I’ve really been able to process all that I’m thankful for, and you two are what I think about first every time.
First off, I want you to know that I talk to God a lot about you two. It’s crazy because He talks so highly about you both and I don’t think you see it at all in comparison. I want you to know that you are the people that you don’t think you are. You compare yourself to others, and when I try to tell you just how amazing you are, you find it so hard to believe. I couldn’t have asked for a better example of parents to lead me and teach me how to start my life and live it right. Sometimes you tell me you wish you could be better parents, but every parent says that and it’s invalid. It’s not true and it will never be true for you two. This blog would be pointless if you didn’t believe every word I say. On that note, if you’re not in a state to accept what I’m saying, then take it to the Lord. 🙂
You both play a HUGE part in leading our family so well. It’s not just your parenting, it’s the way you love each other and are able to work through anything together (I look up to it and strive for that in my future marriage). It’s the way you live your life by loving and serving people. It’s the way you seek God above all else. It’s the way you’ve said the hard things because they needed to be said even if it’s not comfortable. It’s by the grace you’ve shown our family in every area. It’s when you realize you’ve messed up or aren’t perfect and are so so quick to apologize for it without expecting anything in return. It’s the way you choose into our family no matter how hard the day gets. It’s how you both still decide to put the family first, no matter what. Okay, now reread that and realize the truth behind it for both of you.
Mom,
It amazes me knowing that all the work you do for the family still makes you believe it’s not enough. Your heart is so fixed on doing what needs to get done, that you forget about your own needs. I’m so thankful for everything you do for the family, but my biggest prayer every morning is that you learn that your needs are just as important too. I want you to fully feel loved like you love us kids and dad. You’ve been my best friend for a long time and it’s so hard not being able to talk to you everyday and hear you tell me about your kindergarteners after school and how your day went. I loved being able to talk to you about what I was upset about. You always knew when I was upset, and before I could try to avoid you seeing me you’d always say, “Natalie, what’s wrong?” And you never let me leave until I shared everything with you. I so look forward to being able to call you anytime that we want. I know I’m in this season because I need to grow and I know same goes for you, but I miss you so much. I’m so proud of how strong you are and I can’t wait to be able to do life with you again so very soon. I love you so much and I’m so proud that you’re my mom and not someone else’s. Thank you for all you do for our family and for leading by example of what it means to be a hard worker.
Dad,
I can’t say how thankful I am for your guidance and for always wanting to go deeper into our talks about God and faith and people that don’t yet know Him. Your heart for people and for finding God’s guidance in all you do (even when it’s really hard to do) makes me only want to be the same as I grow in my faith. I remember when I was in middle school, I asked you to help me get better at reading my Bible in the morning. I remember you waking me up every morning for a couple weeks and we would listen to the Bible on the couch together. I remember you would giggle a little bit if I fell asleep and it woke me up. For some reason I thought you would get mad at me for not paying attention, but you never did. You were just happy to be helping me get to the point where I could do it by myself. It seems like a distant memory, but I’ve always wanted you to know that you make me proud to call you my dad and I want to be the type of Christian that you are. I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t look up to you. Your wisdom and the way you lead our family doesn’t go unnoticed. I’ve payed attention to it for a while and so has everybody else. I miss you and our friendship. Being able to talk to each other and ask for help and be there for each other is my favorite and I’ve missed it so much, but so so soon I will be home and can’t wait to hang out and be able to hold each other accountable again. Until then, love you lots!
