I was honored to read this beautiful, honest, deep, heartfelt,
endearing letter at a baby shower recently...
and Natalie has kindly let me share it here with y'all.

Keep your Kleenex handy. 

~~

A Letter to My Children

You have made me something great! The moment I brought each of your naked newborn bodies up to my chest are three moments I will never forget. My idea of what was great before having you was nothing of what I could have imagined today. I went to school and had plans to be a missionary in another country. I gave up everything to follow God’s plan for my life. Then one day, God showed me that I needed to give up my plan and enjoy the plan of being a mother to you. He wanted to show me how much more I needed to give, so I began an unexpected journey of sacrifice.

I'm writing this letter to you at the end of the day. I’ve given you everything and I’m too tired to shower. Today I’ve fed your hungry bellies and bathed your little bodies that wear the marks of dirt and sticky snacks. I’ve lost count of the dirty diapers and potty accidents. I read you books and colored with you. I made you popsicles and wrestled you on the floor. I lost my temper. I hurt your feelings. I sang you to sleep and counted the freckles on your nose.

My precious children, sometimes you might think I don’t like being your mom. When my face gets all weird and scary looking. When my patience is short. When I’m too tired to read and I get frustrated that you didn’t make it to the toilet in time. You have seen sides of me that others have not. You have seen me at my worst. 

It has been your little hands and hearts that have brought me to my knees. I have learned through your lives that there is always someone more important than myself. Serving you has left me tired and drained. Serving you has been the best thing I could do in my lifetime. Your three lives remind me every day that life is not about me, it is about loving others. 

You have no idea now, but you are teaching me to lean hard into the moments that shape my character, no matter how uncomfortable they are. You are teaching me that serving others around the clock is hard work. But it is turning me into something beautiful.

Before I had you I was told that children are a blessing. They were right, but I didn't understand what they meant. I thought children were a blessing because they were fun and and really cute to carry around. Now I know that children are a blessing because they turn my eyes away from myself. Your lives have stolen my heart. My heart can’t beat for myself anymore. It beats for you from morning to night, and all through the night. When you are in pain or when you have to work extra hard, I feel what you feel. When your feelings are hurt, my heart breaks with yours. When you experience something new and you scream with excitement, I am cheering right along side of you. 

Today I am celebrating the greatness of being your mom, but I don’t want to be honored for the things I have done. I want to honor the one who hasn’t given up on me..... When I yelled at you and my face turned red with sin, he forgave me. I want to honor God for the work he has done in my life. My beautiful children, you are a blessing because you bring me joy and you point me to the one who will never give up on me. You point me to the one who is making me great.


Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
-Psalm 127:3




~About Natalie~


My life is an open book, you can turn the pages of pain and the chapters of unexpected joy. I am not writing about my life to prove that I am more special than anyone else. But I write to you so that you know you are not alone. I have something I want to tell you. A perspective on life that I wasn't planning of having. 

After my second son, Elias, was born with Down syndrome, I became a different person. And it was because of God's grace that I can speak to you with hope. The story I write to you is about love. Not the perfect love you might see in the movies. It's messy. There is pain and tears. Joy too, but sometimes that is found through sorrow. This story is honest. This is my love story.




"The kingdom of home is a place of refuge, comfort and inspiration. 
It is a rich world where great souls can be formed, 
and from which men and women of great conviction
 and dedication can emerge. 

It is the place where the models of marriage, 
love, and relationships are emulated 
and passed on to the next generation.
One of the great losses of this century is the 
lost imagination for what they home can be if 
shaped by the creative hand of God's Spirit."
-Sally Clarkson 
 




The Titus 2 Club was established to encourage older women to come alongside the younger women in the spirit of Titus 2. Praying that other godly women will join this mission in their own local communities or online to take up this important call to minister to one another for the sake of our families and God's Kingdom.

I will be posting homemaking quotes, encouraging articles, and possible interviews with older women, gleaning their rich insight and wisdom. May our growth and ultimate aim be for God's glory.

"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."
1Thessalonians 5:11