Celebrate Today!
Ah-birthdays. Like so many other things, they come and they go. We look forward to a baby's first birthday and marvel at the things they learn in one year. As they grow, milestones are recognized and birthdays are celebrated with fun parties and friends. Kids look forward to their birthday as they pick out cookies or cupcakes to share with their classmates and ponder the gifts they might get as they carefully select which friends to invite to their party-which is sure to be the best of the year.
Adult years may find special dinners to celebrate a birthday; maybe a fun night out on the town. But as we get older the celebrations get smaller and the thought of another birthday might be a bit daunting. I've kidded that I have stopped having birthdays. Why do we celebrate them anyway? It is a day that brings individuals to mind. In many cases at least two individuals on most of the birthdays in my family, as there are so many that share birthdays. A day on the calendar, singled out that you can lift someone up and celebrate them. Admittedly, it's a little uplifting to have someone stop and sing to you or send a fun card in the mail for you; a break in the monotony of the daily grind to remember we are unique. But really, it's just another day...
Today is the day that my favorite person in the whole wide world was born! I feel excited and so grateful that they were birthed. I'd love to have a huge celebration with balloons and confetti and all of their favorite foods! I would have a thousand beautifully wrapped gifts for them to open, all piled up so that it took a whole day just to get through them all! To make this person realize how much they mean to me would be such a blessing to me...but it's not about me and they would not like all the attention. It's not about what I want and there is no way that material things would convey how much they mean to me or even come close to showing how much I love them. So-I try to show them by being a caring, loving, present, friend. Knowing them, they would appreciate some of the gifts I would LOVE to give them...but they would appreciate my time and actions of love even more. Easier said than done. You'd think that words and actions would be so much easier than trying to figure out what to buy! But, being aware of your actions and words are very difficult sometimes.
Celebrating each other should be more than just one day out of the year. Just because the world has decided that December 25 is the birthday of Jesus doesn't mean we should celebrate Him on that day only. What if the day you were born was the only day He blessed you?
Loving my birthday person is easy because of who they are and celebrating their birthday is fun; but I'm thankful for them every single day and I try to make sure they know it- every single day. Just like Jesus, I am thankful to Him every day and I try to show Him, every single day...thank goodness we can try again each day because I fail at some point every single day...
Romans 14: 5-9 NIV "One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. (6) He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. (7) For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. (8) If we live, we live to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (9) For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Wow! Every day is worth celebrating! Even if it's just for a moment, because truly, each one is a gift. And I was taught to always say, "Thank You"...
