To My Son
- Katie Hunter
- Mar 31, 2016
- 2 min read
Here it is, your fourth birthday. Four years have passed since I became a mother for the first time. Four years since my life would never be the same.
We have come a long way, the two of us; you with your strong spirit and unflinching belief in yourself and me in my approach to parenting and being a mother to a boy. I look at you, with your bright eyes and sweet smile and wonder at how you came to be and the miracle of your life. I am all at once conflicted as I wish you would stay little and love me the way you do forever and at the same time eagerly await the future to see what you will become.
I often have a heavy heart at the idea of you facing the challenges and trials that are sure to come. I wish I could prevent some of those things from coming your way. For many reasons, I wish I could take you to the middle of nowhere and have you endure physical hardships rather than the spiritual ones that will bombard you.
I wish I could keep your eyes protected from pornography and the wicked ways of the world. I wish I could save you from the heartache and sorrow that comes from believing things that many other people don't believe. I wish I could make many things easier for you, but I realize that true growth doesn't happen that way.
As you grow, you will have the amazing ability to choose to follow the teachings of your parents and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You will have to experience hard things, but through those hard things you will become the amazing person you were destined to be. You will be pushed to your limits and stretched beyond your self-perceived abilities. You will do hard things and you will succeed.
You were sent to me with a strong spirit and desire to do right. Sometimes I resist that spirit and try to make you more like me, but deep in my heart I know that I just need to help you become more like you. You have unique talents and abilities that no one else has. You will do things in this life that no one else could do, and I promise to do my best to help you on your path.
If there is anything I can promise you on this special day, it is this: that I love you more than words can tell, that you have a loving Heavenly Father who is ALWAYS there for you, and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ you can become the most amazing person you were destined to be. I look forward to enjoying this journey with you and wouldn't trade you for anything in the world! Happy Birthday!
