Lainey Love

My sweet Lainey-love,

This is my first official letter to you, although we’ve been getting to know each other quite intimately for the past nine months while you’ve been busy growing inside my tummy.   Now we’re only two days away from meeting face to face, and I cannot wait to see and touch the little baby whose every stretch, every hiccup, I’ve felt and experienced for the past nine months.  Do you have any idea how loved you are?

Your daddy, big brother and I have all been working hard to get ready to have you join our family.  Your brother Blake has been practicing saying your name, and he loves to sit in your bouncy seat and rock your swing back and forth.  He gives you hugs every night before bed and sometimes you give him a little kick just to say hello :)  He’s even been sleeping with your pink seahorse a few nights to get it ready for you! 

I was sitting in your room earlier today hanging up the last of your clothes, and as I fingered the soft lace on your Easter dress and adjusted the flower headbands waiting for your on your dresser, it hit me all at once that I’m about to have a baby girl.  There is something so very special about that bond between a mama and her daughter, and my sweet girl, I pray that there will never be a day in your life when you don’t feel that love.  I was created to be your mama, and you were created to be my baby girl.  I promise to never forget how special that is.  We were literally hand chosen for one another by the Creator of the Universe.  That’s an incredible love, and an even more incredible gift.

There are so many things I want you to know and so many pieces of wisdom I hope to impart to you throughout your life, but right now I just want to focus on the one that is most important.

Baby girl, from the beginning of time and from the moment you take your first breath, you were crowned a daughter of the King.  It is your birthright, and the most important title you will ever have.  I pray that you will wear that crown proudly, and that you will let it define you in all you do and say.  I pray that God will raise you up as a light in a world that all too often walks in darkness.  Your name, Lainey, literally means a bright light.  We know that this was the name God intended for you; His beautiful, precious little light. 

Daddy and I claimed John 10:10 for you as a life verse that we pray over you each and every day, even now.  “I have come so that you may have life; and have it more abundantly.”  That’s our deepest prayer for you, now and always.  We pray that you may always know abundant, full life in and through the Father of life.  I pray that you will learn to turn to Him when this life lets you down.  I pray that you will grow into a woman of Godly character, understanding that true beauty comes from a pure heart and not from worldly standards.   

Lainey love, I am already so proud to be your mama.  God has answered the cry of our hearts in delivering you into our family, and I know that His plan for your life is great.  I promise to love you with every piece of my heart.  I promise to work each day to be the mama that God intended me to be….for you, and for your big brother.  And I promise that my arms will always be there—to hold you when you’re sad, to squeeze you tight in a warm hug, and to applaud all of your many, many successes.  I promise to be there for it all, and to be the biggest cheerleader of your life.  

I love you sweet girl, and I cannot wait to meet you face to face.

Forever and Always,

Your Mama