ANNUAL MESSAGE TO OUR CHILDREN, DEC. 16, 2012
To Our Beautiful,
Brilliant, Blessed Children...
God blessed us with a great
big awesome family—eight children and almost two dozen grandchildren—And we
praise Him every day for his amazing blessings!
Our big blended family has experienced some really exciting times, as
well as some not-so-pleasant times.
However, in reflection, we thank God that He kept His loving arms of
protection around our family and enabled all of you to grow into the remarkable
beings that He created you to be.
All of you have faced
your challenges, but with God’s help and with the love and support of your
family, you’ve pulled through. We thank
God that everyone’s back on track and moving forward positively.
It is so nice to see
all of you, now grown and raising your own families—all, working and/or
studying in your chosen professions; all, making exemplary contributions to
society; and most importantly, all, with
a firm faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and raising your families to
love and honor Him.
We can’t begin to tell
you how proud we are of you! It is
especially rewarding to see our grandchildren growing up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord, which is how we tried to raise you. Remember, there is no greater gift that you
can give your children than to love, respect and honor God. God gave them to you as precious gifts to
nurture and mold into little images of you, so let this be your incentive to be
the very best parents you can possibly be.
Parenthood isn’t always
easy, but it’s always rewarding, if you approach it as a blessed privilege,
instead of as a dreaded chore. You are
blessed with the privilege of cuddling those little precious gifts from God and
attending to their every need. As they
grow, you have the privilege of teaching them the life-building skills they
will need. The exciting part of this is
seeing their little wide, eager eyes light up with excitement as they learn
specific skills. For example, last week
when I was teaching Mykah how to write the letter “A,” she was so overcome with
excitement when she learned how to write her first “A,” that she started
writing lots of “A’s” all over the page!
She was soooo proud of herself—and so was I! As parents, you get the opportunity to experience
this LIGHTS-ON realization over and over again....
So, enjoy your
parenting experiences. I know It’s more
difficult for you than for me as a grandparent, because you’re also overwhelmed
with your careers and other responsibilities.
I’ve been there too. Remember,
you’ll never be able to retrieve these precious moments; so take advantage of
every opportunity that you can find to enjoy your little bundles of joy.
In reflection, I wish I
could have spent more time with you in those developing years, but I can’t
change that now. That’s why I’m sharing
these life-lessons-learned with you. You
can learn from my experiences. That’s
how we thrive as a family—by passing on wisdom, knowledge, and truth with
coming generations.
Our Christmas
Wish...
And now, it’s Christmas
in the Wesley family! Such a glorious,
happy, exciting time! Remember to teach
your children the real meaning of Christmas—That it is the time we celebrate
the birthday of our Lord and Savior.
Teach them what a special gift we have as being recipients of His love
and forgiveness...and most importantly, of eternal salvation. This is why we give and receive gifts—to
symbolize the incredible gift that Christ gave the world.
We’re looking forward
to seeing some of you for Christmas. Others
will celebrate in your own homes far, far away.
But...where ever you are, whatever you do; we wish you lots of happiness
and the joy that only Christ can give. Hug
and kiss each other with the kind of love that our family has shared down
through the years; and know deep in your hearts that your parents love you
sincerely, and that we are soooo happy and proud that God placed you in our
care when he sent you to live on earth and to grow up to become the amazing
young people you have become.
All Our Love, Mom and Dad... Christmas 2012
