Life’s Seasons

Stephanie Wagle-Baldwin Age 9

The Gift of You

The baby I used to know has grown long legged now. The freckled face and laughing eyes that look up at me  Still hold the charm of the infant you once were.

But your slender form and beautiful smile Whisper of the woman you will one day be.

Sometimes I get so busy managing the day to day, Or scolding you to pick up your things. That I can forget to enjoy you.

But it’s moments like these as I watch you play, Your imagination taking you into a world all your own, That I have to marvel at the great gift God has given me.

The Summer breeze carries your laughter to me, Your voice, sweet and clear, sings to some imagined friend.

I see so much of myself in you, and yet, You are distinctly yourself.

Your insight and creativity amaze me. Your compassion and caring make me so proud.

In another nine years  I know moments like these will be only sweet memories. Just as your infant days are to me now.

And so I pause to take you in. To plant these images in my heart and wrap them with love.

And though it is bittersweet   How quickly my time with you is passing,     I look forward to knowing the woman you will become.

To hearing her thoughts and feelings, And seeing in her face the child you once were.

Love, Mom

By: Sue Ray-Smolik  

Original written 1995 -revised 2023 

photo credit unknown

What an artist you are God. Painting the earth with such vibrant hues. If this is the beauty you share with us here, Oh what unimaginable more must Heaven be? I cannot help but view your work, With joy in Your promise of what is to come. -Sue Ray-Smolik

A Birthday Blessing Life is change… this much we know. We plant a seed, we watch it grow.

A caterpillar, small and shy, Unfurls into a butterfly. An acorn falls so it can be, Transformed into a sturdy tree. And so we know when change arrives, Across the landscape of our lives. We can still trust that it will mean,

A special blessing not yet seen. As you grow into all that God has planned for you this year, May each day give way to blessing after blessing. -author unknown

The End But just for now…