Dear Mummy,
I'll always love you! There are very few who have the strength, the desire but most importantly the heart to love and love deeply. Yet, from the moment we met over a decade ago, you gave me your heart and so quickly stole mine too!
July 2021 was the month I was determined to really understand gratitude! It has convicted me, encouraged me and humbled me to understand deeply how much God values a heart of gratitude and how essential it is for our joy in life. July 2021 is also the month you left us and I was left thinking how am I supposed to be grateful for this? Where is the thanks, the joy and the gratitude in losing you, who willingly took on the role of "Mum" to me when you knew I needed an extra one.Thankfully, I was reminded that there was so much of your life to be grateful for!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Thank you for living a life so full your love for it was so infectious! You were always the embodiment of "living life to the full".To you, each day was a new opportunity to use the life God had given to you to help others, create new and wonderful things, enjoy the company of those who surrounded you and make an impact in the world in whatever way you could.
Long before your beautiful dolls were a reality, you had brought life to so many wonderful things and yet those dolls were a way of sharing the beauty and pride you had, and that we should all have, in our African heritage.
Thank you for making your home a home to many! I always look forward to coming to the home you and Pastor have built together. Not only are we always fed the most incredible things, you both created a safe, competitive lol, loving and nurturing environment that I never want to leave.
Most significantly, thank you for loving me. I know I've not always made that easy for you but you've always done so freely and I believe wholeheartedly. You would always say "I know my children and I know their strengths and weaknesses" and I'm so beyond blessed that you viewed me in that way. You allowed me access to your life and you never failed to share your words of wisdom that are forever etched into my mind. You taught me the power of a praying wife long before I became one, you showed me the beauty of life in how much you enjoyed the company of your friends through your regular tea parties haha and all the other adventures you'd go on! I have so many of my favourite memories with you, from bush walking and playing pit for the first time in the mountains to all meals and games we have shared together. Thank you for always making time for me. I could had never known when we first met how much of an impact you would have on my life but we both know I will forever be indebted to you. I am a product of your love and there are not enough thank you's for that!
The reality that I won't get to experience your radiance again is a painful one, but I thank God that he's given me and so many others, years of incredible memories to hold onto for the years to come! My future children will live to know you and I will carry you and your incredible life in my heart always.
There is so much more I could say, you're an incredible wife, mother, friend, confidant and so much more but all in all know I will always love you.
Thank you,
Effie