My Letter to Mom {and weekend with Dad❤️}

Hello friends! Happy Hump Day!

I wanted to share with you the special weekend I had with Dad. I love my time with him!! I got to his place Friday night, and we watched the Kentucky basketball game! He LOVES watching Kentucky play!

On Saturday, we went to Kroger and Walmart to get items off his shopping list for the Thanksgiving meal that he and his sweet wife, Janet are having for our family this coming weekend. We also watched a lot of football that afternoon and went to eat dinner at the Old Owl Tavern in Harrodsburg. We love getting the fried banana peppers there! YUM!

Sunday, I went to church with Dad and Janet, and then we went to a seafood spot in Frankfort for lunch. He got the frog legs, and I got the catfish. Have you ever had fried frog legs?

Sunday night we watched a fun Hallmark Christmas movie and drank apple cider. It was perfect! It is always hard to leave my daddy, but my heart was full for the time I spent with him. ❤️

While I was there, he gave me some keepsakes he found in our large family bible that we have had for years. One of the keepsakes was my certificate of baptism from 1979. I was 9 years old.

The other keepsake he gave me was a card that I had sent mom when I was a teenager. I was probably 18 or 19 years old…

It was so wild to see what “younger me” said to my mom so many years ago…

“Mom, You are my inspiration! I love you so much. You have been my best friend this summer. We are so much alike and I love it. I’ll never forget all the little things you’ve done for me and all the sacrifices you’ve made to make me happy. But most of all, thank you for giving me Jesus. I have had the best life I could ask for because of you and the Lord. It’s so good to know we will never be separated but will live together eternally. Mom, I love you more than you will ever know. Always, Traci Renee’ Phil.1:3”

Those words still ring true today. I still love her so much, and the older I get, the more I see how much I am like my mom. I still have NEVER forgotten all that she did for me! AND MOST OF ALL, I am so thankful she taught me about Jesus…it’s the greatest gift I have ever been given.

When I read “It’s so good to know we will never be separated but will live together eternally,” it brought me such comfort. As a teenager writing this, I couldn’t ever imagine being separated from my mom. But it has been 14 years since she passed, and the earthly separation has been hard. I miss her so much. How grateful to know that we will “live together eternally” and this earthly separation is just temporary. Knowing Jesus, and having the gift of salvation and eternal security in Heaven, fills my heart with Hope and Peace.

My mom may not be present with me here on earth any more, but all that she poured into me and taught me over the years still is! I’ll always hold on to everything she instilled in me, and I have tried my best to pass those same treasures down to my children.

Reading this letter made me realize that even though raising our children can be hard at times, our labor is not in vain. What we do and say matters, and I find comfort in knowing that what I invest in my children will last long after I am gone…just like it has for my mom.

Stay the course, mamas. You are more important than you could ever realize to your children! May the Lord bless you and guide you as you pour your life into theirs. It’s worth it. ❤️

Sending you lots of love!

xoxo, Traci