As you'll surely realize early on, I'm a planner. Sometimes my planning spills over into worrying, but I try hard to prevent this. Nevertheless, it does happen.
My latest worry is about 13-20 years away -- your teenage years. Being a teenager is a crazy phase. You gain your independence, start to recognize your own wants, needs and desires apart from your friends and family, and you're faced with some of the biggest challenges and decisions of your entire life.
Daddy loved his teenage years, but I struggled. In retrospect, we were both blessed with good parents, consistent teaching and an understanding of right and wrong, so neither of us made any mistakes that could prevent us from following our dreams -- but we're both lucky to have had things turn out as well as they did.
I hope that we are able to help you understand and value right and wrong, to believe in yourself and your instincts in the face of hard decisions, and to trust us enough to turn to us for help, guidance, forgiveness and love.
I hope that you follow in your Daddy's footsteps in that you survive adolescence having enjoyed yourself, not having been to jail, rehab or an extended hospital stay, and still having all of your dreams open to you.
I know that the foundation of this will be your understanding of God and His plan for your life, our ability to raise you within a strict but loving home and your complete confidence in our love for you. I will continue to pray for the parenting skills necessary to make this all happen, and Daddy and I promise to do our best.
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