It’s My Birthday

Yep…its my birthday. I am 36 today. I tell you this  to say that I am choosing to celebrate.

Texas weather has gifted me with a rare snow minus ice and it feels like a real gift. I want to build a snowman!

My precious kids fixed my breakfast this morning (pop tarts and coffee) and then fixed their own breakfasts. My son gave me card stating that he respected the way I love him. 7 year olds are adorable…and mischievous. My middle one created an original art work for my office…flamingoes forming a heart. My oldest kissed my cheek…even as her friends on the bus watched. They loved me well this morning.

My sweet husband left brightly colored gifts on the kitchen table this morning and is fixing a dinner feast to my specifications!

My phone and Facebook page have been filled with messages from friends all over the country, reminding me of a community beyond my backyard that carries Hope.

I celebrate that I am older. I celebrate that the smile lines are deeper around my mouth and eyes. My body is a year older, and shows some of that wear, but my heart is also a year wiser, a year more open. I have experienced new things this year. I took my first step off of American soil this year. I officially launched a 501c3. I confronted, and continue to confront,  my fear of fundraising. I ran a 5k–slowly, clumsily but I did it and continue to do it.

As I reflect on the last year and consider with gratitude the year ahead of me, I remember reading Henri Nouwen’s Here and Now. He talks about birthday celebrations as being holy events. It is the one day out a year that we celebrate the existence, the ‘being’, of a person rather than their accomplishments. Today, more than any other day, I will attempt to revel in the truth that I am God’s beloved.  I will honor this gift of life by being fully present to it today. I will choose to ignore the voices of perfectionism that push against my soul.

God knows me, God loves me, God delights in me.

That is a gift worth celebrating!