Dear Aub...

I apologize for this being published so long after your birthday. I have not forgotten you nor expressing how special you are to me and to so many others. From the outside, many would say our friendship should not be as it is. You are married, have three beautiful children, considerably younger, how can we find something to talk about? How can we find something in common? Yet despite all the "differences" the Lord has taken our friendship and has molded it into where it is today. And I am forever grateful. From deaths to births to trials and joys, I have been blessed to call you friend. I continually stand amazed at your gentle spirit, your strength, your faith, and your transparency. You were one of the first "married with kids" women to embrace me as a friend, you saw past the differences and into the heart. You have opened up your home, your life, and allowed me to see the good and the bad, and have adopted me as family. You have found the differences and embraced them and the similarities and built from them. We can talk about running and movies as comfortably as we talk about life parenting and marriage. And through it all, you have allowed the Lord to be glorified, the Lord to be seen. As a mother, you have shown me how to truly live in the sovereignty of the Lord, how children are a gift from God and therefore belong to Him, how to allow children to be children yet still have structure and discipline. As a wife, you have shown me how to trust your husband, even when things are difficult; how to love unconditionally through all circumstances, how to submit to his authority and leadership in the home even amidst your own doubts and feelings. As a friend, you have shown me how to correct gently, how to love through service, how to be patient through trials and tribulations, and how to be joyful through all things. I feel, no I know, I will one day, Lord willing, be a better mother a better wife, and I am already a better friend, because of you.
So even though it is no longer your birthday, you are celebrated dear friend. You are loved. You are special. And I pray the Lord will keep you, the Lord will bless you and your children, the Lord will bless you and Josh. I pray the Lord will protect you, guide you and give you peace in all that comes your way.
Happy Birthday Aub! Thank you for being "You" to me and to so many others.