It is Mr and Mrs Adept’s 16th wedding anniversary today, so I created the “card” for you in Photoshop using a photo of the jasmine that we have growing in our gateway. The jasmine is absolutely stunning at this time of year, but if you go through the gate, you need to take a breath before you get there and not breathe while going through it. The perfume is rather overwhelming, but the plant is so spectacular that it is worth it.

May the Lord grant you many more years of happiness together, and I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Sixteen years ago was one of the happiest times of my life, as I gave birth to a perfectly healthy 6lb 6 oz baby boy.

It was a time of great rejoicing because in the couple of months leading up to his birth, I had spent a great deal of time in hospital due to a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pneumonia. My son used to waken me with a fit of the hiccups in the early hours of the morning, and seeing that I was in the Queen Victoria Hospital, and my husband was in Tumby Bay, I used to phone him at about 5:00 am and say, “Your baby woke me with hiccups – I thought that you might just like to know, and seeing that I’m awake, you are, too.”

When I was finally released from hospital I was flown from Adelaide to Tumby Bay via light plane, and the pilot was more than a little bit nervous, asking me how long I had to go. I also had some flowers that I took on the plane with me and they dribbled water everywhere, so much so that when we landed, there was water oozing from the plane’s underbelly. The pilot was much relieved when he realised what had happened.

The next week, our bundle of joy was born in the Tumby Bay Hospital, amid much consternation from the doctors involved, as they wanted me to be flown to Adelaide to deliver our baby because I was on daily injections of Heparin. Our baby had different ideas, though, and by the time that we arrived at the hospital, I was well and truly in labour, and that sure put a dampener on being sent by plane to Adelaide.

At 8:00 a.m. the next morning (the doctor had stayed at the hospital all night), we were blessed by the arrival of our precious baby boy.

Sixteen years have passed by ever so quickly, but it only seems like yesterday that I held that beautiful baby in my arms, knowing that He would grow up in the presence of the Lord, and also how much we had been blessed by his birth.

Happy 16th birthday to my darling son!
We love you very much. May God continue to bless and keep you and may His Face shine upon you.

I couldn’t find a verse that really said what I wanted it to, so I created my own.

Before you were born,
God had a plan,
He made you an infant,
Now you’re nearly a man.

Your dad and I love you,
And cherish you, son,
Than ever you’d know now,
Or since you’ve begun…

To live life beside us,
In our part of God’s plan,
You’re part of ours, too,
For you’re our little man.

May God bless you and guide you,
All the days of your youth,
And may He be with you,
In His Spirit and truth.

AND

Here is the front of the card. It is made using decoupage, and was relatively easy to make. My daughter also hand-made her card, as it is so easy to buy a birthday card, but there is no love, time or effort put into that creating that one. I always treasure a hand-made card for it speaks to me of the love, time and effort put into making it, and it means that I am special enough for that person to know what I like and to spend their time creating something just for me. Am I being overly sentimental and mushy – my son would say so – maybe???

Now a birthday wouldn’t be complete without a birthday cake, now would it? When asked what he would like for a birthday cake, he said that he would like a White Chocolate Mudcake. My husband made the cake, and I decorated it with home-grown strawberries.

the love of my life, the father of our children and the mainstay of our home. I thank you for all the things that you are, the love and care that you provide for us each and every day, and I thank God for bringing you into my life.

For all the things that I forget to say, “Thank you” for, I’m saying thank you, now. For all the times that I forget to say, “I love you”, I’m saying it, now, and for all the times that I forget to say, “I’m sorry”, I’m saying it now.

May God continue to bless you as much as you have blessed the lives of those who spend each and every day with you, and I hope that you have a wonderful and blessed Father’s Day.

To all the Fathers out there, may the Lord grant you a wonderful and blessed Father’s Day.