Category: Whitney (Page 4 of 12)

To my oldest daughter:

For your cheerful personality that brightens up every room,
for the loyalty you show all your friends,
for your selfless acts of service for others,
for your dedication to your job and your co-workers,
for the ways you live and die with your stupid Cowboys,
for your richly embedded competitive nature that lives to win and hates to lose,
for your unquenchable love for our Lord and his people,
for your little quirks that crack me up and bring me so much joy,
for your patience and perseverance when things don’t go your way,
for your deep blue eyes, your tiny ears, and your quadruple-jointed fingers,
for your loving heart and your generous spirit,

I am so very proud of you.
I’m so blessed to be your dad.
And I love you more than I’ve ever been able to express in words.

Happy Birthday, Whitney.
Dad

She got her deep blue eyes from her great grandmother. She got her tiny nose and tiny ears from her mom. Her love for game shows and weather casts comes from her grandpa. Her enthusiasm for life is fueled by her many friends. Her passion for sports and her surprising talent for trash-talking is all from her dad. Her fashion sense is continually being shaped by her sisters. Her double-jointed fingers, her obsession with time and schedules, and her uncontrollable laughing? We don’t know where that came from.

Her sweet spirit, though, comes from her Lord. Her heart, that seeks first to serve others, that is acutely attuned to the needs of others, comes from her Savior who came not to be served but to serve. Loading and unloading the dishwasher almost every day, helping Mary and Sara and our children’s ministry here at Central every week, occasionally bringing the ministers our favorite flavored iced teas, just doing whatever needs to be done — that’s from Christ Jesus. Her optimism, her faith that everything’s going to work out, her trust that she and those around her are going to be OK, comes from God the Father Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth who created her. So laid back and unflappable, so committed to seeing only the very best in people, so dedicated to giving every person the benefit of the doubt — that’s from our God. Her compassion for those who are hurting, her desire to comfort and heal, comes from God’s Spirit who dwells inside her. She rejoices with those who rejoice and mourns with those who mourn, she hugs the hurting and consoles those in pain, she sympathizes with the less fortunate and is truly happy when good things happen to other people — that comes from the Helper, the Comforter.

Our oldest daughter, Whitney Leigh-Anne, turns 23 today. She is a marvelous gift and a tremendous source of joy for her parents and her family and a great blessing to everyone who knows her. We praise God for Whitney, for the countless ways she reflects the glory of our God and for the myriad ways God works through her to touch others. She’s special. Truly unique. Whit-Pit is one of a kind.

Happy Birthday, sweetie. We love you dearly. And we thank God for you daily.

Dad

If you’ve met our oldest daughter, Whitney, then you already like her. You like her smile, her good manners, her willingness to serve, her desire to make others happy, and her warmth. You really like that about Whitney.

If you’ve spent any time with her at all, then you already love her. You love her laugh, her bright outlook on life, her gullibility, her passion for her favorite things and favorite people, her silly trash-talk, her fierce loyalty, and her hugs that last for twelve days. It takes about six minutes with her to experience all of that. You already love that about Whitney.

If you are Whitney’s dad…

…well, let me tell you. If you are Whitney’s dad, there’s so much more to love about her that not everybody knows.

I love how hard Whitney tries to do things right. Whether it’s tying her shoes and hitting a baseball as a little girl or learning to drive a car or sack groceries as a young lady, Whitney wants instruction and practice. She focuses on doing things with excellence, doing things the right way. She’s patient, she’s determined, she’s committed. And I love that.

I love Whitney’s optimism and positive disposition in the middle of pain and disappointment. Our oldest girl has suffered plenty of both in her life. You probably already know a little about the meningitis and the surgeries and the results of that time in her childhood that still impact her today. You know about the hearing aids and fine motor skill limitations and balance issues. You haven’t seen her the day before a surgery or the night before a doctor’s appointment or the hours leading up to an entrance exam or a job interview. I have. Everything’s upbeat. Everything’s positive. Everything’s going to work out fine. And then, because things don’t always work out just fine, the bounce-back. Whitney’s great gift is her bounce-back. Yes, she can wallow in disappointment and heartbreak — for about ten minutes. And then it’s on to the next thing with faith and trust and great joy. Unabashed joy. And I love that about Whitney.

And I really love what God is doing with our daughter and, more surprisingly, through our daughter. Whitney shocks us quite often with her perception of what’s happening around us. She can lead a prayer for someone, as she did this past Sunday night during our small group, that penetrates to the very soul of what’s going on inside that person. Things few of us would have remembered, things few of us would ever say out loud, Whitney remembers and, somehow, ties it all together, and blesses in the name of Jesus. I think God puts Whitney in people’s lives on purpose in order to bless them. It seems to me that the people in Whitney’s life need her as much as she needs them, the people hugging Whitney need those hugs as much as she does. God uses Whitney to bless others. She seems to be increasingly aware of it. She’s paying attention more and articulating more what God is up to in this world and how she’s actually in on it. And I love that.

Whitney is 22-years-old today. And God put her in my life in order to bless me.

I love you, blue-eyed angel. Happy Birthday.

Dad