Dear Julia,
November 9, 2010, a day I will not forget because it is a day I was not able to be where my heart wanted me to be. I had seen the birth of your sisters, Emeline and Elisea but because I had moved to Durham, I was not going to be able to see you enter this world. A few days after your birth, I traveled late in the night to come meet you for the first time. I had fallen asleep for only a few hours on the sofa when I heard your first cries. You weren't like your sisters, you had this powerful yet petite cry. This small but loud sound coming from this small petite little body. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stumbled down the hall to see you. Your mommy had just finished nursing you and rose to hand you to me. I have never known the joy of holding my own child, at least not yet. But I know the joy can not be much greater than holding the child of someone you love. And I have had the opportunity to do that multiple times. You see Julia, the Lord may bless you with your own children, or He may not. It is not for us to determine but Him. He knows our hearts, He knows our desires, and we have to trust that He is faithful to bring those to fruition in His timing and in His own special way. I know the joy the contentment the love that comes from a child, the child may not have been birthed from me, but they are still a part of my heart a part of who I am. Maybe this is the secret to contentment, being joyful for what the Lord has given even if it comes in a package you may have not designed. Holding you for the first time, seeing your little petite body, I fell in love all over again. When Emeline passed, I made a promise to her to the Lord that I would love each moment I had with my family, but especially the little ones the Lord placed in my life, as if it were the last. I would protect and cherish, I would love and discipline. I would laugh and I would cry with them. Mommy's and Daddy's have been given the most important job on earth in raising a child, but Aunties's they have been given just as important a role. We come in and out of your life and are only given a few days here and a few days there to impact, to teach, to have fun, to love. The time we have is more precious than any other time because it is here and then it is not. We have been given the right and the privilege to love you as our own and to partner with your parents in raising you in His image and in His Word. But we can spoil you with a little more candy, a piece of cake, a day at the park, a new outfit or toy. We can light up your eyes within a moment just by walking in the door unexpectedly. So my dearest Julia, you have been the baby now for a few years and are about to be the middle. You have a sweet yet mischievous spirit....you are loving and caring yet funny and definitely you are you. I pray as you grow each year that you will know Who the Lord is in real and amazing ways. That you will never go a day without knowing His grace and His mercy. That you will be the baby sister the middle sister you have been created to be, the peacemaker, the one who changes the moment with a smile or a joke. You do not have to be a leader, your sister has already established that role and has been gifted for that role, but you do not have to be a follower either. Lead when needed follow when needed but be you. The world will bombard you with falsehoods with images with temptations, if you ever are caught in the middle of a path and not sure which way to go, I am here. I will help you, I will guide you, I will pray for you. That's what Auntie's are for, when you need a little guidance and you can not talk to your parents, we are here. Not to keep a secret from them but to be another person who is helping raise you and guide you. I am not perfect, nor will I ever claim to be, but I pray as you get older you can look to me as an example as a role model. Whether it is something I have done wrong for you not to emulate or whether it is something I have done right, look to me, follow me. And if at any point I am not pointing you to the cross to the Father then I pray the Lord convicts me and shows me of my sin. My sweet Julia when the Lord brought you into this world, He knew exactly what you would look like, He knew your frame your beauty, do not let the world take this from you, find your security and your assurance in Him. He knew you would light up the room with a smile, keep smiling. He knew you would make people laugh you would have your quirky ways do not change because the world may tell you to change. You will fall down, you will make mistakes, but do not live in the grief and the shame and the guilt, when you are weak He is strong, repent and let the freedom of His forgiveness cover you and move you forward. There is something special a special bond that occurs the first time you hold a newborn baby, a feeling words truly can not describe. My dear Julia I pray you never will go a day without knowing how special you are and how loved you are. May the Lord bless you may He keep you safe, may He bring about a work and a journey for your life that none of us can even imagine. You are a child of the King and one day I can not wait to hear the words come from your mouth that Jesus is Lord and Saviour of your life. I love you from the moment I first knew you were to be my niece....Aunt Jynne
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