Yesterday was my daughter's birthday. A kind of melancholy day for me because she is living many hours away from us. But I know a happy one for her. She was out doing something that makes her very happy, riding her horse.
I started thinking of past birthdays. Not only her's but also my sons'. Birthdays are a celebration of the day that that tiny person finally makes their grand entry into the world. A day that mom and dad wait for with anticipation and also some trepidation. Will I be a good parent? Will they be healthy and strong? Will they grow up to be a person of integrity and compassion, kind and generous? Many questions go through our minds, and then that day finally arrives. Most times not exactly on the due date. So, surprise!! It's time to hurry to the hospital or whatever arrangements have been made to usher this anxiously awaited gift from God.
What a joy it is to be a part of God's creative process. To know that without Him there is no new life. But through Him, this red, wrinkled, crying newborn came to bring your life joy. And sometimes pain and sorrow. But as a parent there is always that underlying love and quiet awe that you helped bring a new life into existance.
So, every year we celebrate that day. A day of festivities to commemorate the day this person that God has given to you as a gift entered your life. A day to remember that first day when all the world was new and the whole world was before them. Adventures, thrills, trials and some heartbreak. Sounds like the trailer for a movie. Life is like that. You never know for sure what is around the next corner.
Thinking of birthdays got me to thinking about another birth-day. That day of new birth in Jesus. It is a day that we don't usually know when it is coming. I didn't 'plan' per se to give my heart and life to Jesus on that day that I did. It was not something that I had set in my schedule for such and such a day at such and such a time. But I do know it was a day that my Father had been eagerly awaiting. He set everything in motion for me to come to that saving knowledge of all that Jesus had done for me. He brought people into my life who would share the love of Jesus with me. He allowed the Holy Spirit to woo me and begin to convince me of that great and mighty love that was waiting for me. He had a plan for my life, above and beyond all that I could have hoped and dreamed. And the day that I realized that I had a Father in heaven who loved me, a Saviour who gave His life for me, that was my birth-day. Even more exciting than the day I entered this beautiful world He created. And there was a celebration even greater than what my parents and family had. There was a celebration in the heavenlies and the attendees were angels. Rejoicing that another soul accepted life and that life eternal. Luke 15:10 says that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
As we live this life, we can live it like every day is a gift. Every day is a new birth-day. And adventures, thrills, trials and yes, even heartbreak await us. But oh the joy of knowing that we are not alone. That we are not without hope. That in all these things God never leaves us!
My own parents are gone now. And on many days I miss them so much, but even more so on April 23. That was the day that, surprise!! It's time to head to the hospital and labor though all the pain and blood, sweat and tears. To finally hold that little baby that was me! I miss them so, but I rejoice that I have another Father who celebrates that day, and every day with me. And even greater, that on the day I leave this mortal shell I inhabit, I will have another day of celebration! As I come into the presence of the One who not only celebrated my birth, but who formed me in my mother's womb and knew everything about me...
So, happy birthday to me!! Another day of knowing He has a purpose for me. Another day of peeking around the corner to see what awaits me. Another day of knowing that my parents and my Father are waiting for that most joyful of days when I arrive...Surprise!!
I started thinking of past birthdays. Not only her's but also my sons'. Birthdays are a celebration of the day that that tiny person finally makes their grand entry into the world. A day that mom and dad wait for with anticipation and also some trepidation. Will I be a good parent? Will they be healthy and strong? Will they grow up to be a person of integrity and compassion, kind and generous? Many questions go through our minds, and then that day finally arrives. Most times not exactly on the due date. So, surprise!! It's time to hurry to the hospital or whatever arrangements have been made to usher this anxiously awaited gift from God.
What a joy it is to be a part of God's creative process. To know that without Him there is no new life. But through Him, this red, wrinkled, crying newborn came to bring your life joy. And sometimes pain and sorrow. But as a parent there is always that underlying love and quiet awe that you helped bring a new life into existance.
So, every year we celebrate that day. A day of festivities to commemorate the day this person that God has given to you as a gift entered your life. A day to remember that first day when all the world was new and the whole world was before them. Adventures, thrills, trials and some heartbreak. Sounds like the trailer for a movie. Life is like that. You never know for sure what is around the next corner.
Thinking of birthdays got me to thinking about another birth-day. That day of new birth in Jesus. It is a day that we don't usually know when it is coming. I didn't 'plan' per se to give my heart and life to Jesus on that day that I did. It was not something that I had set in my schedule for such and such a day at such and such a time. But I do know it was a day that my Father had been eagerly awaiting. He set everything in motion for me to come to that saving knowledge of all that Jesus had done for me. He brought people into my life who would share the love of Jesus with me. He allowed the Holy Spirit to woo me and begin to convince me of that great and mighty love that was waiting for me. He had a plan for my life, above and beyond all that I could have hoped and dreamed. And the day that I realized that I had a Father in heaven who loved me, a Saviour who gave His life for me, that was my birth-day. Even more exciting than the day I entered this beautiful world He created. And there was a celebration even greater than what my parents and family had. There was a celebration in the heavenlies and the attendees were angels. Rejoicing that another soul accepted life and that life eternal. Luke 15:10 says that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
As we live this life, we can live it like every day is a gift. Every day is a new birth-day. And adventures, thrills, trials and yes, even heartbreak await us. But oh the joy of knowing that we are not alone. That we are not without hope. That in all these things God never leaves us!
My own parents are gone now. And on many days I miss them so much, but even more so on April 23. That was the day that, surprise!! It's time to head to the hospital and labor though all the pain and blood, sweat and tears. To finally hold that little baby that was me! I miss them so, but I rejoice that I have another Father who celebrates that day, and every day with me. And even greater, that on the day I leave this mortal shell I inhabit, I will have another day of celebration! As I come into the presence of the One who not only celebrated my birth, but who formed me in my mother's womb and knew everything about me...
So, happy birthday to me!! Another day of knowing He has a purpose for me. Another day of peeking around the corner to see what awaits me. Another day of knowing that my parents and my Father are waiting for that most joyful of days when I arrive...Surprise!!