Dear Son-In-Law,
I (probably) haven’t met you yet. Yet you have been in my heart and in my prayers for a whole lot of years. All the years I have been doing what I can to raise a daughter who loves God, I have been praying that you are on that same path.
I pray that you are part of a family that is modeling what a strong healthy family should be. Parents shape us in a way that no one else can. I pray that your father modeled what it means to cherish his wife. I hope he was the spiritual leader of your home and that you have a healthier view of your heavenly Father, because you had a godly earthly father. I pray that your mom taught you that there are qualities and values far more important than any sport you ever played or any grade on a report card. And that you learned the valuable lesson of unconditional love from her.
If you happen to come from a broken or unhealthy home, my hope is that you learned what you DON’T want a family life to look like. I pray that you had people in your life to model strong relationships and that you believe with your whole heart that marriage is meant to be ‘til death do you part.’
This next sentence will make you do a double take. I want you to be totally and completely in love with someone MORE than you are with my daughter. I want your first love, above and beyond your wife and your kids, to be for Jesus! God cannot simply be an ingredient in your life together or an activity you do together on Sunday mornings. Rather than an ingredient, he should be the bowl that holds all the other ingredients (your finances, your children, your careers, your social life, etc.) together. If you are both chasing Him with all that you are and keeping Him as the center, all other things will fall into place. When couples start letting their spouse (or anything else for that matter) be their number one thing, you are building on sand and treading on dangerous ground. Allow God to be enough. Everything else are the good gifts He has given you.
I have also prayed for my relationship with you. Someday I am going to be handing over one of the most precious things in my life. She will go from being a primary part of my family to starting a new one with you. I don’t mean to make it sound like she is a possession, but I have a lot of history with this girl. Her priority, after God, is now you and your new family. I want to be the best mother-in-law I can be. I want to be a support and a prayer warrior for you, but never OVERLY involved in your lives.
Your new wife is an amazing woman. She has made me proud to the point of tears many times. She has tried my patience and pushed my buttons, as I’m sure she will with you. I know she loves Jesus and I can’t wait to see where He leads the two of you together.
Until we meet, I will continue to pray for you.
Love,
Your Mother-In-Law
