Ten.

Zack Pentz,

Dude. I cannot fathom that TEN whole years have flown by in the blink of an eye. TEN! A WHOLE DECADE with my main man. Oh Zack, words cannot describe how my heart bursts with pride when I think about you. Ten years has flown by but I have LOVED every second of this adventure with you. From that moment that I first held you in my arms, my heart was catapulted into this whole new level of love that I had never experienced before. You made me a mom and I've never been so honored or humbled to hold such an incredible title. You are intelligent, creative, passionate, disciplined, hard-working, and kind. You are a natural leader, athletic, and oh so charming. Your smile brightens up every single one of my days. And... listening to you giggle while Thunder eats your toes, fingers, and ears is my absolute favorite hobby!

This leap from 9 to 10 has been gigantic. You have grown in every way and are thriving in all you do. You played your first year of football in the fall and LOVED it (even though you broke your arm 3 days before your first game). Your character and grit carried you as you continued to play through the season, cast and all. You had a great peewee basketball season and went on to play with Commit 360 for the next few months and learned so much! You are the hardest worker I know. You push yourself to the limits, even through the uncomfortable moments. You are learning so much that will absolutely lead you to conquer any dream that you can dream up in your future. Your determination combined with your crazy intelligence and your natural talents are forming you into the incredible person I know will change the world. And I will be cheering you on every step of the way as your biggest, craziest, loudest fan. 

In addition to all of your academic and athletic accomplishments, we have been busy on all kinds of crazy adventures. We went to Disneyland in the fall with our Neshems, Bend, OR just after Christmas, and visited Grammie in CA where you got to go to your first NBA game and watch the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry defeat the Nuggets. I think that might just have been the highlight of your entire year and fueled your passions for basketball even more. We did tons of boating and skiing and all kinds of super fun short trips to summer camp with Newlife Youth, Leavenworth, and Seattle. We leave tomorrow for Maui with Nana and Papa to continue celebrating you and these incredible 10 years. Making memories with you everyday is like heaven on earth. 


So again today, on your 10th birthday (and everyday), I pray this prayer...

Lord, thank you for the precious gift and miracle you have blessed us with in giving us Zack. I pray that you would raise Zack up to be a Mighty Man of God and a warrior for your kingdom. That he would love and serve you and love and serve your people and honor and obey us as his parents. And Lord, that you would give us great wisdom to be parents worthy of his love, honor, obedience, and respect! God I pray that Zack would be a man of integrity and great character. That he would be strong and courageous. That he would tenaciously seek you and your will, but that his heart would be tender in the pursuit of your people. Lord, I pray that your grace and mercy would pour out over his life and that he would accept your amazing gift of forgiveness, every single day. And please work in our hearts to never take this weight of parenting lightly. Lord, we are raising your precious child. He is not ours, he is a child of the Most High God. You have created every speck of sand on the shore, every star in the sky, and know every hair on his head...he is yours. But thank you so much for giving us the amazing opportunity to be his parents and love him every day of his life. Lord I pray that you would protect him from injury, disease, and illness. Protect his heart from heartache. And Lord, please help me to be his greatest fan and encourager. This year he rocked 4th grade. And before I know it, he will be off to Jr. High...and High School! All too soon I will hear Zachariah David Pentz announced as he walks across the platform and is handed his diploma. Lord, I pray even now for Zack's future spouse. I pray that Zack would lay his life down for her as you did for your church. And on that day, on that alter, you would join them together forever in a union that only you could create. Man, it makes my heart happy to think about the day that Zack will hold his baby and gaze into its face just the way that I did eight years ago today. God, continue to shape him and form him into the Man of God that you have called him to be. 

AMEN!


Zack Pentz, you light up my life. I am blessed in every way to be your mom. And I'm so incredibly proud of who you are and who you are becoming. 

Love,
Mom