Birthday Blessings

For those who read my blog regularly (I like to flatter myself in thinking there are just a few! ;0) I mentioned at Isaac's birthday how birthday celebrations were so small and inconsequential growing up and how I've come to view them as a celebrations of life and always worth making a small fuss over. I've been thinking more about it since and for once in my life I'm not afraid to announce that it's my birthday and I'm proud to say so! For those who know me well, any sort of fuss that landed me in a spot light usually had me in tears of mortification ... I couldn't stand the attention and had absolutely no grace in handling it. I've grown to realize that it was more a function of how little I had been taught the value of a soul, even my own. As years have gone on I've seen how this is in direct relationship to seeing myself as a daughter of God - a child of infinite worth - who shows me his love through countless blessings in my life. So this little post is simply an acknowledgement of those blessings.

I am grateful for life. The fact that it is difficult doesn't diminish the gift that it is. The dark moments are just as much a part of the rich tapestry as the bright moments. If anything, they serve to enhance it. I'm grateful to have my very own masterpiece that is seen in the character and choices of my life.

I am incredibly grateful for the threads of other people that intersect my own. Family has come to mean such different things for me in the the last 5 years. They are those who know me, care for me, encourage me to be better while still loving me no matter my choices. This is the most obvious in my husband and son. Their love is impossible for me to describe. What's more amazing is that this love seems so inborn in children, something that we forget as we become more jaded by life experiences. My child (and soon to be children) remind me of this blessing that I can give to others as well.

When one has such blessings, there is not much else I really need to find joy. I know without a doubt in my mind that these gifts are from God. He has carried me through the dark moments and made it so I might look back and see the beauty that was always there. I am eternally in his debt. Thank you for 34 years of beautiful life!