Birthday Musings

I am not one to make a big deal of my own birthdays, especially when it means moving from one decade to another. I have to admit waking up to a headache from the day before, which immediately made me think it comes naturally when one gets to a certain age.

I was going to say that I didn't like the attention, but to be honest, I am missing the "bless the birthday celebrator" tradition I grew up in with my friends. I just made up the name of course because we never called it anything - where there's a birthday celebrator, friends just tend to gravitate and it always seemed natural to end up in conversations that lead to blessing the person, mostly where we thought of one or two things, depending on the number, we love and appreciate about them and we told them in the group's presence. It probably sounds corny but for some reason, whether as a birthday girl or one of the friends, we all leave encouraged and blessed. Maybe it is just me, but quality time being my top love language and words of appreciation coming close second, it really makes me feel really special and well, LOVED. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate presents, but it is probably in the bottom of the love language scales and even if I don't get one, it doesn't make me feel loved any less.

This year, friends thought of surprising me with a birthday lunch, but because I was so "clever", I figured it out. Instead I invited them over to my house along with a few other friends without mentioning that it was my birthday. I thought if I didn't want to make a fuzz out of it, why should they? So lunch it was, and what a good time to catch up with some friends that I hadn't seen for a while.

I woke up to a very nicely made birthday card with some carefully worded note including something to the effect of looking younger than my age. It was a stretch but hubby did volunteer to wait til 9am to drive our little mister to preschool, saving me a total of 40 minutes to an hour of walking, so I was happy to let it slide.

I am tempted to make a list of forty things I am grateful to God for, but we all know that when a girl says list, it is a list of words per item and I did want to make this short. I must

Photo Credit+flowers: Tess Colgrave
Thanks, mare! Rachel Kelly for the cake

say I am very thankful for the life God has blessed me. He has blessed me with the most amazing husband and two awesome kids. I thank God for our families. While they all live overseas, distance doesn't seem to hinder the close family ties that connects us. In the absence of our biological family, God has connected us to a great local church family where we got to meet like minded individuals and families in similar season in life like us. We are blessed that we still get to honor God and be a part in advancing His kingdom even in this season, and not be hindered by it. I thank God for the friends He placed in our lives, for the opportunity to make sisters and brothers by choice,  and for the many blessings that keeps coming our way.

You know how I started my day with all sorts of body pains? Let me just say that when I started thinking and thanking God for everything I was grateful for, it all just went away - and I must say, it was a happy birthday indeed!