Dear Lexie and Lilly

Dear Lexie and Lilly

It is 2015 a new year, I tried explaining this concept to you but you are still to small to grasp what a new year is.  

Here is my annual New Year letter to both of you.  You wont grasp any of this now, but you will when you are older.  

Here is a few pearls of wisdom from me to you.  Some have  come through revelation, so through good times and some through bad times.  But they have been life lessons no matter the avenue I received them in.   My wish for both of you is to be happy and to see yourself through my eyes and even better the eyes of your creator who made you wonderfully and fearfully. 

I write these letters to you because I know we live in a world that will break your confidence at times, you will meet people and accept people into your life that will hurt you unintentionally and sometimes intentionally.  You will have great moments of joy and great moments of heartache, that's life!

I hope that somewhere in between my ramblings you find something to hold onto in your good times and your not so good times.

1. Stay in your lane, listen to people who have your best interest at heart, say no at times, realise that you are living on borrowed time and it's okay if you don't want a freakish busy life.  You can change your community by starting in your own family and where you are and still make a difference.  

2.   Never ever do anything extravagant just to impress others or to be one up. Do it because you want to and love to. 

3.  Family is everything!  You should be each others best friends and biggest cheerleaders throughout life.  Friends come and they go but family will be your one constant in life. Most friendships are based on the convenience of proximity but families survive very long spells of silence and absence. Families survive misunderstandings, bad patches, miscommunications and bad moods.  Stick to family, it will be your saving grace.  

4.  In our house your acceptance and love will never be determined by your gift or what you can bring to the table but merely of who you are and because of the fact that you belong and are valued no matter what!   This doesn't give you an excuse not to try your best to contribute to society in the best possible way you know how.  Know that no matter what, we love you unconditionally. 

5.  There is a difference between being used by God and being used and abused by man.  People with big hearts and no boundaries of their own don't know the difference.  Lexie you already have a big heart, guard it while you lavish upon people. 

6.  Cheaters never prosper in the long run! 

7.  Never be hypnotized by the ones on stage. Be hypnotized by what goes on behind the scenes when no-one is watching. Reputation and character is not made in public, it's created in private.

8.  Don't necessarily think that a person with a BIG education has character and compassion.  It doesn't necessarily mean they are nice humans, they just have a few more certificates than you. 

9.  Encourage people, it does more than you think!

10.  Never submit to people who sit on a golden throne. 

11.  When you feel like giving up and things in your life don't make sense take it from Mom: God is ridiculously, scandalously overwhelmingly faithful, so let His purposes play out your life. 

12.  Friendships are to be stewarded, not leveraged.

13.  Lexie-Grace and Lilly Grace, embrace GRACE! 

14.  Be generous, be ridiculously generous! Money isn't that important, yet very important in generous hands!

15.  There is a great Amish saying: "don't let your mouth overload your back".  I believe in the value of saying no, not all the time, but a lot of the time.  People won't always understand, but it is not their job to understand.  You are in your lane and it is difficult enough to stay in that lane, never mind looking to your left or right to see where others are (the art of not comparing yourself).  

16.  Secrets builds barriers between people.

17.  Speak-up when you know in your heart something is wrong or disturbs you no matter how scared you may be or to whom you speak up to.  At the end of the day we are all just people regardless of status and position.  Even "good" people can be wrong.

18.  Some nights you will surrounded by people you love and you will be eating delicious food and everything will be alright in the world.

19.  Don't ever let someone mean too much too late. 

20.  Putting Church first doesn't necessarily mean you putting God first.

21.  Remind mommy to tell you about covert nastiness.  Too big to type here. 

22. Loving and helping people will always be inconvenient, just do it anyway.

23.  Almost always make up your own mind about a topic, idea, concept,  person or situation.

24.  Red Velvet cupcakes are seriously over-rated!

Love Mom