Where did the time go? Somehow we got from 1991 to here in a
blink of an eye. In the weeks after you were born in August 1991, I held you
and rocked you… and I prayed. As I rocked you, I would push your sweaty little
bangs back from your forehead, and I would sing, “I love you forever, I like
you for always, as long as I’m living your mommy I’ll be.” I prayed for you,
for a brilliant wonderful, meaningful life, where you would live for Christ,
where you would love your family fiercely, like mine loved me, and that God
would always guide your decisions. And I remember… very clearly, praying for
the woman that would become your wife. Wondering if she had been born yet
(little did I know she was already the OLDER woman… by a full THREE MONTHS). I
remember watching you with your childhood friends at Montessori…. And wondering
where your sweet bride might be growing up. I would pray, LORD, please watch
over the woman’s heart that you have in mind for him. Keep her safe.. and I
would imagine what the rest of your life might be like… Unfortunately I have
had a habit of wishing for the next milestone before I enjoyed the moment I was
in… and the moments… they have flown on by.
Andrew, just five
minutes ago you sported a blond bowl cut… You were known as a bull in a china
shop that NEVER slowed down.. with the shiny sparkling personality to match
your energy level. As both of your siblings were born, you became FIERCLY
protective of them, but you also played the know it all older brother TOO WELL
at times. But the best part of all of childhood with you three, is you didn’t
carry grudges. You fought briefly, you moved on and you continued to love each
other FIERCLY… just as you still do. It is incredibly meaningful to me that you
and Brittany chose to put Carson and Alexandra in places of honor beside of you
tomorrow. That loving heart and the relationships you share mean everything to
your mom.
But back to you, Andrew…You blew through your kindergarten
work so easily, we just knew you were the next Einstein… And then you HIT 7th grade, and at the orientation
speech, your teachers insulted me by saying, “this year your child will turn
into an alien.” And my pretentious, 35 year old self, was taken aback. NOT my
perfect child. Well, about January, Kevin and I were called into a meeting with
Andrew’s team of teachers. Guess what… they described all the issues they were
having with messy and missing work, and lack of focus, plus slipping grades…
and without thinking, I said, “It sounds like my son has become an alien… that
just doesn’t sound like him.” Slowly…. After noticing the smirks on their faces…
it hit me. They were RIGHT at the beginning of the year. They definitely
understood the seventh grade mind better than me… the young, first time mother
of a child becoming a young adult.
Isn’t it ironic that my son is now TEACHING seventh grade?
Who knew?
As the years of high school flew by, he was blessed with
great friends, wrestling and football teammates, and amazing experiences.
During that time, Andrew felt the pull to become a teacher, and he announced
that the perfect school to pursue that dream was Appalachian State. And as his
senior year came and went in a flash, I remember a full year of anxiety over
every decision… was he choosing the right major? The right school? Would he
keep Christ first when he went to school? Would he take the wrong path and make
poor decisions when he got to App? And I would pray… and pray some more ….
And then, as Karen Kingsbury said in her book, “Let me hold
you longer,” that bright shiny fall day came when college life beckoned in a
brilliant sort of way.. and you shooed us off as quickly as you could, as you
began to make a life apart from your precious family. And your future began to
take shape.
Right from the first month… I knew something special was
happening in Coltrane Dorm…. Moms just KNOW these things, don’t they? All of
the sudden, I could follow Andrew’s entire life through FACEBOOK… and it wasn’t
HIS Facebook. Every game, every dance, all the amazing new friends, every event
at Coltrane, played out online. And in almost every picture, with Andrew, was
this pretty blond with long hair, and a beautiful smile. And somehow, I knew.
After two months, and the first App football game, Kevin and I drove home
telling each other that there was something between Andrew and that pretty
blond. But still he denied it. Funny enough, by November, she made a trip to
Winston with Andrew. At Christmas, I asked if they were a couple. No mom, we
are NOT officially dating. At Carson’s black belt program, in February, there
was that sweet Brittany again… and still… “we’re just friends, mom.” But every
time I looked at them together, I knew. I knew she was the ONE. The one God had
been shaping and molding and bringing to this point to be the perfect match to
my son.
By March, it was finally official. They were A COUPLE. It
was Facebook official. ;) But as the weeks turned to months, and the months to
years, and we shared vacations and beach trips, New York City and Atlanta,
sunshine and rain, funerals and birthday celebrations, we all knew. SHE WAS THE
ONE. The yin to Andrew’s yang. She balanced out the wide open little boy with
some calm, and then they changed and he became her calm voice of balance as she
graduated and moved into the stressful journey to become a Doctor of Physical
Therapy. Everyone that knows them sees in them what we both see. Two beautiful
souls, not a bit of malice in either heart, two people that got knit
beautifully in their mothers’ wombs so that one day, they could join together
to form a beautiful family together. God has protected you both. He has brought
you both close to Him. I love that Andrew moved back to Winston and immediately
came back to Pinedale, getting involved in youth ministry. As a mom, it’s a
true joy to sit back and watch God working in your lives, experiencing each
joyful step and decision with both of you.
But tomorrow, the time comes for dad and I to take a step
back. At your Eagle Ceremony, we told you it was time to let you fly as an
adult. But now, at your wedding, you become a husband. And Brittany, your
beautiful bride, becomes your wife. And together, you become a family. As
Alexandra and your Mimi always like to say, “it’s the circle of life.” And I’m
so excited and proud to watch your lives unfold. I wish for you a joy-filled
life… know that there will be peaks and valleys, but it’s in navigating the
valleys that God will shape your character. My advice to you is that when you
wake up each day, after thanking the Lord, you first think of how you can make
your spouse’s life easier and better. If you always put his or her needs before
your own, your marriage will flourish. If you both continue to keep Christ
first in your life, you will continue a long legacy that began many generations
before both of you.
You both know that I love the book, Let Me Hold You Longer,
which ends every time with “let me hold on longer, Lord, to every precious last.” But today
we celebrate firsts… and I Iook forward to a lifetime more of first with you. I
love you both more than you will ever know, and I’m so proud to be your mom.
