Dear Cruz,

"You are a product of MY LOVE."

As a parent, I always thought of you as being a product of your dad and I. A product of the circumstances we raise you in, the lessons we teach you, and how much we love you. To me it's always been 1 + 2 = 3. It's been a simple equation in my mind, where we ask God for help along the way, but in reality it will come down to how well we perform as parents, how much knowledge we have, and what we pass along to you. I believe this to be partially true, although definitely not a simple equation, and definitely not one that excludes the Lord's power and influence in your life. We do have a lot of responsibility on us as parents. We are typically the ones holding your hand through all of your firsts--your first roll, first crawl, first steps, first day of school, etc--encouraging you along the way, disciplining you when necessary, teaching you when needed, answering the never-ending "why" question, and loving you unconditionally through it all. We are here to give you wise counsel, to be a positive, encouraging force in your life, and to constantly lift you up to the Lord.

As I prayed about our role in your life, I heard something simple but so incredibly important to remember, "He is a product of MY love". It's not the house you are raised in, the people surrounding you growing up, or any set of circumstances that define you. It's the love of and your personal relationship with the Lord that defines who you are and who you will become. This definition of who you are as a believer explains how you handle certain situations, how you thrive even during times of trouble and tragedy, and it defines how and why you always have hope through your faith in Jesus Christ. When we become believers, we have made a choice to put our faith in Christ and not the things of this world- Praise God that we no are no longer held captive to our circumstances but we are free in Christ! We are free to have hope even when life seems to be falling apart... We are free to let go of any fear, anxiety or worry about our circumstances and let the Lord restore our lives as he has promised to do:

"Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up. "

Psalm 71:20

Let's face it, although your dad and I are partly responsible for you, we are still human and we aren't going to do things perfectly... but praise God for HE is the one that's responsible for who you become, who you are... you are a product of HIS love! Everything that you are, Cruz, stemmed from the love he had, has, and will always have for you. In everything you do, in every thought, every situation, every encounter, live from a place of knowing with all your heart that you are a product of the Lord God's love!

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:16-21).