A Mother's Thank You To Her Children

IPRIDE believes that it is important for parents to praise and encourage their children when they meet and exceed our expectations.  Below is an open letter from an IPRIDE member to her children.
Thank you for sharing.

A few Saturdays back, I testified to the GOI of how grateful I am to be the mother of 3 of the most wonderful children in the world. I thought to myself, why do I have to wait for their feast to say thank you and express to them how I truly appreciate the joy they bring to my life?

My only dream in life was to be a mother and because of you guys I get to live my dream every day....Thank you!

Ziphion - Almost 11 years ago you were born, and that day was the happiest day of my life. I instantly fell in love with you.  Since then you have been wowing me and making me proud.  For that I would like to say a big THANK YOU. Thank you Ziphion for being you. Thank you for being a wonderful big brother to Kezia and Eleazar.  Kezia loves you so much and she always wants to be around you.  Mr. Eleazar just adores you, he looks up to you and he wants to do everything you do.  I want you to always be mindful of that and always try to do what is right. Thank you for assisting dad and I around the house, you go above and beyond to help us out.  You will get up in the mornings without me waking you up, change Eleazar, give him his bottle and make breakfast for Kezia.  We ask you to do a million things around the house and you never give us attitude, or complain, you do it with a smile. WOW!!! I love you son!!! Thank you for thinking about me and how hard I work and wanting to do things just because you want to put a smile on my face.  It works every time.  You are going to make a wonderful husband one day.  Ziphion, your great qualities are endless, please don’t change or let anyone try and change you.  Keep being you.  I love me some Ziphion.  I look forward to Wednesdays to go to your soccer games and watch you in your glory.  I am the happiest and proudest mommy whenever you are playing......thank you very much for those memories.  Watching you play soccer reminds me of you back in the days on stage doing your speeches.  I see the same passion and I get the same feeling inside. Ziphion I love you ttttthhhhhhhiiiiiisssss much (only you know what that means).  I will continue to support your dreams.  I will always love you.  Remember, trust your mother (I gave you life...lol) I will never tell you anything that is bad for you. I know I'm tough on you Ziphion and you might not always understand it, or get it at times, but one day you will. Don’t ever mistake my tough love for anything other than what it is, Love!  Ziphion, as you grow, I want you to remember your foundation. Never forget who your GOD is and where your strength comes from.  Don’t forget to pray, pray and pray for everything......you can never go wrong when you pray to the God Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.....PEACE!!!!  Mommy and daddy will always love you.

My Kezia - every time I look at you, I'm reminded of how much the GOI loves me and with him there is mercy.  Baby, around the time that I was pregnant with you it was one of the hardest times in my life.  But, when you were born my whole life changed.  That was the moment when I realized that Israel is real and that the GOI is real.  Your birth symbolize truth, happiness, joy, righteousness and peace.  Kezia, you gave that to me......thank you baby.  Kezia, baby, you brought me PEACE.  Every time you hug me and kiss me I smile inside and say, thank you GOI.  Thank you Kezia for beinf so affectionate to your brothers and reading to Eleazar every night at bedtime.  He loves it soo much.  He doesn’t like it when anyone else reads to him.  I love hearing you read to him, especially when you do the special voices.  Thank you very much for helping out around the house.  Your contribution to the family is greatly appreciated.  Thank you Kezia for showing equal love to mommy and daddy, but I know you are daddy's girl...its ok.

Kezia, thank you for working so very hard in school and having great report cards.  You talk about being a doctor everyday so that you can take care of your family.  Every time I hear you say that, it melts my heart.  Baby, when you become a doctor, I will walk around with a sign everyday to show the world that my baby, Kezia, is a doctor....that's how proud I will be.  Kezia, I love to hear you pray.  You pray with such sincerity and you put a lot of thought in your prayers. Thank you for all the prayers and Godspeeds every morning before I go to work.  It's because of you why I make it in to work and back home every day. The GOI listens to you.  Thank you for always being so loving.  The affection you show towards the people that you love is priceless. I know I'm tough on you Kezia, and you might not understand it at times, but it’s for a reason....I want the best for you. Please don't ever mistake my tough love for anything other than what it is; Love!  Kezia, as you grow I want you to always remember your foundation, never forget who your GOD is and where your strength comes from. Don't ever forget to pray, pray and pray for everything......you can never go wrong when you pray to the God Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.....PEACE!!!! Mommy and daddy will always love you.

My baby Eleazar - Eleazar Bobb, mommy loves you soo much, especially when I call and you answer the phone and say "hi mom", "love you" and "bye mom" and then get off the phone.  Eleazar you are sooo different from anyone that I know. You are only 2 but you are so brilliant.  You are smart, caring, giving and loving.  What more could I ask for from my 2 year old son? I love watching you grow. You are amazing on the ipad and iphone.  The love you have for learning is priceless.  Eleazar, I pray that you continue to grow in the same way.  Watch and copy everything that we do around the house.  I can admit it, you look more like your dad.   But, it is because of my dimples that you are absolutely handsome. Eleazar, mommy and daddy love you so very much and we know that you too will make us proud.....I can’t wait.  Big things are expected of you, don't feel pressure by it, embrace it because, guess what?  You can never fail because you were circumcised by an Israelite and offered up by an Israelite to the one true and living GOD, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.....don’t be afraid to take that with you everywhere you go. Thank you Eleazar for all the hugs, kisses and that beautiful smile that you so often share with me. As you grow, I will also be tough on you too.  Don’t mistake my tough love for anything more or less than what it is.  You can take comfort in it because it simple means you will never have to do or face anything by yourself......you will always have my support.  Eleazar, as you grow, we will teach you to pray, pray and pray for everything......have confident in the fact that you can never go wrong when you pray to the God Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.....he loves his children. PEACE baby!!!! Mommy and daddy will always love you.