I LOVE birthdays! Not just my birthday, I love celebrating the birthday of my friends and loved ones. I love the hoopla with family, the balloons, the cake, the bright napkins... I love all of it. In fact, for those who know me, know that I have been on a campaign for years to institute “birthmonth” because a day just doesn’t seem enough to celebrate the people we love ;)

One would think that the older one gets the less likely they are to want to celebrate their many, many years on earth. Not me. I realize I am getting older, but aren’t we all? I know that I no longer bounce when I fall, or that my my laugh lines are deeper than they were 20 years ago, and that the reason I have bangs is really to hide the ever deepening lines on my forehead. But, I am okay with it, why?

Because birthdays remind me of God’s faithfulness. As I take time to reflect on the year, I am reminded of how God has been there; how God has provided; and how God has comforted. And remembering that brings me closer to being in the presence of the One who has been with me all these years!

Have you read Psalm 71 lately? The Psalmist talks about God’s presence through his life.

He says,

From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

I will ever praise you. (v.6)

Then he says,

Since my youth, God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvellous deeds. (v. 17)

And I love this, maybe because I relate to this….

Even when I am old and grey,

The psalmist says,

I [will] declare your power to the next generation,

your mighty acts to all who are to come. (v.18)

The psalmist was blessed with God’s presence and faithfulness throughout his life and that is cause for praise! Notice he says he will “declare,” God has been so faithful, so powerful, so mighty through the years that he can’t keep it to himself. He needs to tell the next generation!

So let’s celebrate birthdays! Sure, birthdays signify the passage of time but they can also signify another year of God’s boundless love and faithfulness.

You are loved by an amazing God - embrace, wrestle but hang on…cuz' God ain’t done with us yet!

Thank you for helping me celebrate my BIG birthday last Sunday. Our Amberlea family has caught on to the Birthmonth notion and I love them for it! Thank you!

God has given us much to celebrate!

Celebrate!

Celebrate often!

Celebrate one another!