Happy 3rd Birthday Johan!

Dear Johan Christoph,

Today you turn 3. Still our baby but learning to assert yourself and becoming a little independent. Hooray for surviving the terrible 2's stage and hooray for the magical year of turning 3. We know we still have a very long but beautiful and sometimes terrible days to come. Just please remember our unconditional love for you and the inexhaustible love of Papa Jesus.

There are no words to express how much we love you. For us, you are perfect from head to toe. You are our answered prayer from the day you were born, from the day we saw your perfectly cute, reddish, small face, a true blessing from up above. You brought meaning to our lives and we will never be the same again.

We know that as much we want to protect you from disappointments and heartbreaks, as much as we want to shield you from hurts and pains, as much as we want to cushion you from troubles and worries, we cannot. The world is full of them, people will pull you down, people will fail you. But remember that as long as we live, we have hope and as long as we have hope, we can move on. Have faith that God will never let you down.

I vividly remember when I first saw you, you made me cry. You made daddy cry also. Your daddy who is not really the crying type. The tears of a happy heart, our hearts overflowed with so much joy and we cannot even imagine that we can still love like we love you. You have been one of the greatest gifts to us and we're just so grateful and blessed every single day.

What would we do without your laughter? The hearty kind, the noisy kind, the one that pulls us out of our problems and relieves us of our stress. We cannot even fathom how we have survived a day before you. You've got that spell that always cures our misery and even makes us move on to another day.

It will only be a matter of time before we release you to the world and you fulfill your little heart's desire. We just hope and pray that you stay close with God. He is the only source of everything that's good in this world. We want you to grow up to be God-fearing, always leaning to His ways and understanding His words. Please make it a habit to talk to him and trust His plans for you.

We pray that you value character more than anything else. Brilliance is nothing if your character is lacking. Always be humble, a humble heart is always pleasing to God. May God watch you, bless you and guide you wherever life takes you.

We hope and pray that you never lose your childlike enthusiasm as you pursue your dreams. No matter how big or small, grand or simple your dreams are, always pursue it with passion. And you will never lose.

We hope and pray that you are healthy and safe whatever you do, wherever you are. Health, cliché as it may be, will always be wealth. Don't be too crazy to trade off your health for wealth.

We will try our hardest to be the very best parents for you. God entrusted you to our care and we will try to never let him down. Even if you feel that we fail sometimes, always remember that God will always fill that gap and you will always be in good hands.

We want you to know that you are loved. Whether we are together or apart, please always remember that you will always have a piece of mommy and daddy's heart.

Always remember that our love has no expiration date, it's unfailing and unceasing. We will always have open arms when you needed a hug. We will always have open hearts when you needed understanding. We will always have gentle hands when you needed a lesson. We will always have open minds when you needed pieces of advice.

All of me loves all of you. And that is all that you need to know now and forever.

You are only 3 years old baby; the best is yet to come.

PS.
We hope we can still kiss and hug and hold you tight until you have outgrown your love for Spiderman.

We wish we could still be around to walk you down the aisle when you find that perfect partner in life.

We wish we could still see you build your own family and have your own child if you choose to have one.

We wish we could still care for you when you’re too sick or too old. Or we wish you would never be alone in the world so we never have to take care of you when you’re too sick or too old. Life is too precious and short not to share it with someone else.

We love you so so so much! Bigger than the universe, wider than this planet.

Happy happy happy birthday Johan Christoph!

Love, Mommy and Daddy