a letter

Dear Rebekah,

I keep saying it, but I'm going to say it again, I'm amazed at how you are growing into such a beautiful, giving, kind young lady. I want to learn from you. I took you to Target this past weekend. You had 2 gift cards from your birthday and I took you to spend them. You never asked to go. But I wanted some time with you. As we were walking into the store, you were telling me ideas of things you wanted to get for Sawyer and Joshua and Bailey. Not a mention of any ideas for yourself. I thought it would all change once we walked through the doors. Nope. You wouldn't even think about looking for yourself until you had found the perfect thing for every person in our family. Once we had accomplished that, we started looking for things for YOU. Clothes? No. Too many dollars. {You had $35 total.} Hair things? No. You have enough already. Toys. You found a couple things you liked. But...no. Too many dollars. You decided to just get the things for everyone else and a lipgloss for $1 for yourself and safe the rest of the giftcard for later. I kept my mouth shut up until this point...really wanting this to be YOUR decision. But I tried to talk you into getting something special...that you'd really LOVE...telling you this money was a gift for you...it's ok to use it! After quite a few minutes of continued looking and pondering, you found the perfect gift. Your eyes lit up! A baby doll {seriously? we have about 20 in our basement!} But this one is unlike any other one we have. It's black. You wanted her because she will match your new siblings. I wanted to hug you and cry all at the same time. Right there in the Target aisle. I did neither. I tried to act very calm, cool and collected. But my heart was crying. Crying with love for you...for your precious heart...always thinking of others...even your siblings halfway across the world.
I so enjoyed our time together. Just you and me. And I learned some new things about you! About how you make decisions. And about how you view money. And about how giving you are. I could learn a little bit from you, my sweet daughter. You are precious. I am proud of you. And I am honored to be your mom.

Love, Mom