Boris Kodjoe celebrated the 10th birthday of his daughter Sophie Tei Naaki Lee Kodjoe with an open letter praising her strength and courage and revealing what she's taught him about love and faith. Read it inside...

This week, actor Boris Kodjoe (shown above at LAX yesterday where he's headed to movie shoot in Africa) and his wife Nicole Ari Parker celebrated the birthday of their daughter Sophie Tei Naaki Lee Kodjoe, who just turned 10-years old.

You'll recall that Sophie lives with spina bifida, a neural birth defect that can cause leg, bladder and bowel damage. Boris opened up about the disease and Sophie's struggles during a previous interview saying,

"We were blessed with a miracle child and spared of the more severe symptoms, but Sophie’s spastic bladder still forces us to catheterize her every three hours, day and night, to avoid pressure build up in her bladder and urine backflow into her kidneys. ,"

On Facebook, the Addicted star penned an open letter praising Sophie for her battle, highlighting her strength and courage.

To My Little Heart.
The day I met your mother I knew I was ready to be a man. The day I met you I became one. You've shown me what true strength and courage is and you taught me that the love of faith and the faith in love is one and the same.
I'm in awe of your ability to defy the odds and I marvel at the confidence with which you produce miracle after miracle. You smile your way through life and your light touches everyone around you.

I'm proud of you because you are your mother's daughter, I'm proud of you because you are
Sophie Tei-Naaki Lee Kodjoe.

Happy 10th Birthday my little heart. I love you more than you will ever believe.

Daddy
‪#‎ThankYouGodForMyAngel‬

On Twitter, Nicole tweeted a birthday photo (atop) with the entire family, including little brother Nicolas Neruda Kodjoe, wishing Sophie a happy birthday. And TheYBF.com would like to wish brave little Sophie a Happy Birthday as well!

Photo via Nicole Ari Parker's Twitter and Instagram/WENN