I woke up today thinking of my daughter, Mandy, who is a grown woman now. Married to a great guy, her life is blessed! But today, as I prayed for her my mind was drawn to something I wrote for her back in 2009 when the “handwriting was on the wall,” I realised she was growing up.

Her birthday is coming soon; she lives in the USA and I live in Malawi. How I wish I were the one baking her cake, leading in singing a cheesy “Happy Birthday” song. How I wish I were the one to clean up after a party.

But there is grace to somehow handle all those emotions. I only have to look back to 1987 when I first came out as a missionary and remember: we had no phones, no email, no post – once we went a full year without knowing what was in our bank account. So, while we are separated we have FaceTime, Skype, Facebook, and other ways of communicating that we didn’t have all those years ago.

Yet, I still long to be with her. My baby girl. Happy early birthday honey. Love, Mom

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I baked a cake for my baby today

Her friends came over and everyone was set to play

Barbies, baby dolls, and gifts all around

Balloons were popping and children were singing

Her daddy turned to me and said

“This was a good day.”

———-

I baked a cake for my girl today

She had friends over for the night

They had a talent show and sang for us

More gifts and little girl things

I hugged her tight as she climbed the stairs and she said,

“Thanks Mommy for this fun day!”

———-

I baked a cake for my daughter today

Her friends came to “hang around”

Barbies and toys gave way to music and dance

No more little girl things on this day

She forgot to hug me running to the room with her friends

Thank you God for another birthday!

———-

I baked a cake for Mandy today

Chocolate and peanut butter are the flavors of choice

Gifts for the baby grown tall

Bittersweet feelings surround us all

Hug me baby as you go on your way

For God’s gift to me was you – on your birthday.

———-

18 April 2009

To Mandy from Mom