Birthday Letter to Karis from Daddy

My dear Karis,

I’m not sure how much I can add to what your Mommy has written for you. It was beautiful. I loved every word. Karis, I love seeing you when I come home from work. I open my arms wide to give you a hug, but you usually look at me and perhaps walk toward me, and then right past me. And then I go play with you, and sometimes chase you, and that always makes you giggle.

You are focused and busy. I see a lot of Mommy and me in you. I think you will become a strong, intelligent, and observant woman. You learn by watching, and you study intently. But I hope you are not afraid to try new things. Sometimes that’s the only way to learn.

Recently we’ve started throwing a little basketball back and forth to each other. At first, you couldn’t catch it, but you still liked it, and laughed a lot while we did it. But now you can both trap the ball against your body and really catch it in the air. You can throw it about 6 inches. For your birthday party, Daddy is going to set up a little basketball play area for you.

Another one of our things is playing in the water. You love to run right for the water when we go to the beach (just like your Daddy). The only problem is that your mom has to save you from drowning. I’m looking forward to your learning how to swim.

I love reading to you. As Mom wrote, you are getting less squirmy, and that makes Bible story time more enjoyable for everyone. We’ve been reading the book of John together (about a chapter a day), and we just finished chapter 16.

We pray that God will continue to bless you physically, mentally and spiritually. May He show you His character by enabling your parents to be good examples to you, balancing toughness and tenderness even as Jesus Himself did. May He give you a soft, obedient heart to match your strong, determined will. May He use your disobedience to lead you to repentance and faith. May He help Mommy and Daddy to be sensitive to your heart, so that you learn that sin is not merely external, but (at its deepest level) lies in the heart and the mind. Repentance and faith mean turning away from wanting to be God and trusting that God knows best and that heart-felt obedience to Him is the happiest life possible.

We love you so much.

Your Daddy