Birthday Reflections

With every sunrise, we are reminded that God is not finished with us.

As I write this post, I have just celebrated my 47th trip around the sun. While that number blows my mind sometimes and I find myself wondering how I got here, I mean there are times when I literally feel like I should still be getting ready to graduate from high school, not getting ready for my own child to graduate; for the most part, I feel grateful.

I feel blessed to have lived this long. In a society that tells us that every gray hair and wrinkle is something to be ashamed of and that we should all strive to be perpetually young, I feel blessed to have the wisdom that all those trips around the sun have allowed me to acquire.

I sometimes find myself having conversations with my daughter about issues that trouble her and I try to convince her that this or that issue will not matter in the big scheme of things. She sometimes believes me, but I suspect that she often doesn’t. I suspect that many things that trouble her young heart will only be resolved by her own trips around the sun.

I have come to believe that birthdays and age are something to be celebrated, not dreaded. Both are gifts that not everyone is given. Every time I blow candles out, I am reminded that the Giver of my life is not finished with me yet. With every year that passes, He has new things to teach me and new trails for me to blaze.

He has plans for me to make some kind of Kingdom impact. Every tear shed, every blessing, every health scare, every tragedy, every triumph and every trip around the sun, are part of that plan to make me the most effective on my journey here on this side of Heaven.

The same goes for you. But, we have a choice. We can choose to embrace the unique place that we find ourselves at the moment, our age, our health, our circumstances, and give it all to God and ask Him to use it for His glory, or we can become bitter and angry. We can long for yesterday. We can languish over mistakes we have made. We can choose to believe that our best years are behind us.

Perhaps the greatest step that we can make in our faith journey, is the surrender of the idea that we are in control. When we truly do that, we are free to see everyday as a gift and an opportunity.

We are not here by accident. We are here for a reason. A recent birthday reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂