by Tini Tadeo-Castillo
March 14, 2015
To my dear Future Son-in-Law,
I have begun my journey being a mother to a daughter the moment I found out I was carrying Julianna Leila. On that fateful day, I bawled and admit I wasn’t as thrilled to be carrying a baby girl. I was just so certain she would be much more a diva than I was! But hey! I fell in love with her nonetheless…after of course I got rid of my initial selfish reaction (thank heavens!) and realized what a real gift she truly was. I began imagining how she’d look like when I felt her first flutter. I wondered who she’d take after the minute I felt her first stir in my belly. I thought how she’d turn out to be as I felt her first heavy thump and multiple dives within me (I was really certain that I was carrying a child from the Amazons!) When I first gazed at her tiny face as the nurse handed her to me, my jaw dropped. Hers was the most beautiful I have ever seen in my entire life. She was pink, and hairy and chinky eyed and I fell in love instantly. That moment she had her Daddy wrapped around her tiny fingers. I knew she was going to change the world. Well her daddy’s world that is. She changed mine. And she will change yours, too.
Most people would think me crazy for writing this as early as now--she’s only 12, old enough to be a little girl but too young to be a lady. I am certain many have done this in the past and I would not be the first mother to do so. See, I would’ve written this sooner but God always has a perfect time. He made sure I had my head, heart and life straight first, before I sat down to write this.
As soon as I received Christ as my personal Savior, my life was never the same. But this is not about me. It is about how I learned to begin intently and seriously praying for both my child and the power I found out that I had as a praying mother. And the moment I realized this, I knew I had to exercise it full time and praise God, I have been doing it since. Every day, I pray for my son and I pray for her, too. I pray for marvelous things God has planned for them and how they will be led to all roads to their God’s best.
I don’t know who you are yet, but I know that God is preparing you, too. God has something wonderful planned for you and part of that plan is meeting and marrying my daughter. He will pave the way for your paths to cross, that I am certain of. You are still a boy now, maybe older or younger than her but I pray that when the time comes that your paths do cross, you have already become the man God has designed you to be—a God-fearing, loving, patient and responsible man.
I pray that as early as now, you will be loved and cared for by your family and friends, that you may know how it is to love and care for our one and only eternal sunshine. I pray that you will honor and obey your parents, for when you do and you have made it your second nature, I am assured that you will also treasure and respect me and my husband the same way. I pray that you will receive and make Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life—that you will seek God, have a hunger for His Word and desire only His will for you and your life through the help of Godly men and women you will be surrounded with. I pray that that you will know the depth, breadth and length of God’s love for you—that you will love God with all your heart, mind and soul, knowing that when you do, you will love my daughter with every ounce of your being next to the Lord. I pray you grow up in a happy home, that you may know what and how to make your own home as happy. I pray you will choose wisely and be granted the wisdom and discernment to do so—in all areas of your life. I pray that you will trust God with your future (that includes my daughter!) knowing things will fall into place in His perfect time.
Do not be in a hurry, for when you do, you might miss out on God’s best for you (yes, that still includes my daughter!) I pray that you will not be deceived by the world—pride, lust, temptation, materialism—that you will stand firm in faith knowing that purity, gentleness, humility and patience reap rewards in God’s kingdom. I pray, too that you will put on God’s full armor so that you will know how to train and equip your future children (my grandchildren!) to become a soldier of the living army of God. Praying that you will always choose to follow God’s ways and fully understand and believe what Jesus did for you and for me. May God give you a forgiving and patient heart for I know that there will be times when my Leila (and my grandchildren) will test you and inevitably make mistakes. Whatever fault you may find in her, love her anyway and forgive her please. She may feel weak or discouraged or lonely at any time in your marriage, be sensitive enough to know her needs and her need of you, know when to be her strength and when to be her champion. I pray that you will learn to discern the tactics of the enemy. I will be assured in knowing that when you do, you will not look at my daughter as your enemy in times of differences and disagreements, but an ally whom you should protect and fight with.
Our eternal sunshine Leila, is utterly special and it will take a very special man to love her. Someone as special as her daddy and hopefully even more. You are that. You just don’t know it yet. That is why I pray for you because someday, you will be special to me, too. You will be my son, the husband to my eternal sunshine and the father to my future adorable grandchildren.
As we all wait for the far distant future, and as God prepares you, I shall do my part in all of it. I will pray that God will use me to prepare your God’s best—to raise my daughter to be a virtuous woman. I will model to her how to love God with all heart, mind and soul. I will show her how to willingly and lovingly submit to my husband, I will respect him so that she will know how it is to be a trustworthy and suitable helpmate to you. I will nurture and train her with the love of Christ--she will have learned how do it for you and your future family when the time comes. I will do my utmost to have an atmosphere of love and warmth in our home—that is so she can draw from it for when you will share a home with her. I will reinforce that true beauty is not found on the outside but from within—a beauty that can only come from Jesus and will blossom with His love and your love for her. My husband and I will lead by example what a committed relationship is, what marriage is. We will do our best to raise a woman who fears and loves the Lord with the same intensity.
I pray for that the special time and place when you will both feel that feeling called a Zing! May it be beautiful and according to God’s perfect plan. Until then and even until after, know I shall keep you in my prayers.
With much love,
Your Future Mother-in-Law
~~ Then, Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Genesis 24:67
~~ For this child I have prayed; and the Lord has granted me the desires of my heart.
1 Samuel 1:27