Dear Child,

I’m always on the lookout for good books. Last year, Kerri suggested Her Mother’s Hope, by Francine Rivers.  It is an incredible story of a woman named Marta and the choices she made as a mother, and how those choices shaped her children and grandchildren. I consumed the entire 512 pages in roughly a day and a half! Then I was left counting the days until she published the conclusion to the story, Her Daughter’s Dream. That one took a little longer, maybe a week, because I had a new baby to cuddle. If you have a mother, you should read these books!

What does a book have to do with my habits? Throughout the story, Marta is writing to her childhood friend in Switzerland, and it is through these letters that you get to understand the true feelings behind her actions. I won’t say any more about the story, only that one of the things that really struck me was how important it is to communicate with my children and how much I would love to have something like that from my own mother, a diary or something to help me understand the feelings and events that shaped the way I was raised.

I decided then that I would begin writing letters to my children – a journal for each one of them where I can record all those thoughts that are hard to share with a toddler who won’t sit still for more than a minute, or with a ten-year old who wants nothing more than to play with Legos or ride his bike. My plan is to write each of them a letter on their birthday every year and any other time I have thoughts I’d like to share. I’ll record special occasions, like learning to ride a bike and coming to know Christ. I’ll write to them about my own joys and struggles as a their mom, difficult decisions and special moments. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll give the books to them when they turn 18, leave for college, or when they get married, but I know I want them to have them before they have children of their own.