This month is my birthday… I am a May baby. I have been all but avoiding my birthday for a few years now. Finding it hard to be excited about being another year older. Counting the years. Counting the number. The ever growing number.
But I have decided to make a change this year. This year, I am going to change my perspective.
I have decided to welcome this day with gratitude. I choose gratitude.
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
This life. These days. These moments.
This is my story.
My wonderful story. Preciously mine. My gift from HIM.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
I want to live deliberate and unhurried. I want to see each day as important. Live each day as important. It is time to look ahead with happy praise.
I choose to embrace each {generously blessed to me} day.
All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16
This year I will not worry about the number of candles on the cake. This year I will turn my focus to just one. One light.
My light.
And I am going to let my light shine bright.
Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
How do you welcome your birthday? Will you choose to welcome it with praise and gratitude?
by Jennifer, Studio JRU
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This is lovely! And so very wise. To embrace each moment as a gift is to truly live. Happy Birthday!
Great post! So very good sometimes to get a fresh dose of perspective. Thank you.
We didn’t choose our life, and so remembering that He created us for purpose gets us on our knees in trusting. Amen!
Tomorrow is my birthday so I can relate – and I am always thankful for every year He gives me. I lost my grandfather on my 24th birthday and had to learn to get past it and this is what God taught me. A lot of people don’t make it to turn 38 like I will tomorrow so I chose gratitude!
So happy to hear you chose gratitude tomorrow on your birthday Jennifer. Happy Birthday!
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Such a great post! Such a wonderful reminder! Happy Birthday Jennifer!
Thank you for this message………so wise and true for each day! It has totally changed my mindset for the day. Happy Birthday
Thank you! Today is my 41st birthday. And one I was not looking forward to. This post was the encouragement I needed. Thank you for being a blessing today.
I am so glad you found encouragement Brian. I hope you had a wonderful birthday remembering that it is HIS special gift to you today! 🙂
After surviving 2 bone marrow transplants for 2 different stage 3 cancers, you bet I celebrate my birthday!!!
Yay Deb! So happy to hear that!
Happy Birthday dear Jennifer! I hope this will be a wonderful year for you. Your attitude is wise and a good example to all of us.
Great post! This one phrase stuck out to me- “I want to live deliberate and unhurried. I want to see each day as important. Live each day as important. It is time to look ahead with happy praise.” What an outlook to have! I pray that I can live that out…
Happy birthday!
Bernice
What we REALLY want for Mothers Day
Last year was one of the most trying years of my life. However, I’m looking forward to all the things God has in store for me. In preparation for my own birthday, I made a list of all the things God taught me or brought me through over the past year. This helped me to see that even in a valley, He was there. I am truly grateful for the work He’s done in my life. I know He will be with me as I face another year. Thank you for this great reminder.
From one May baby to another, Happy Birthday!
That is a wonderful idea Traci! You are right… He was always there. I hope you have a very happy birthday this month! 🙂
What a way to celebrate and grow in each new year!
This is so perfect, with the scriptures telling your story! I have always looked older than I am, till I got to my forties! Then people think I am younger than I am! But…since becoming a full disciple of the Lord’s, I have always said that I want to embrace growing older, and grow older gracefully…now my hair (which is blonde) is beginning its graying…which to a blonde means it looks really dirty all the time till the white is finally here! I cannot wait for white! My hair dresser was simply stunned when she first heard me say this! But most importantly, I want my years to reflect His wisdom, a life being lived in the purpose He has prepared for me, and continuing to live in such a way as to draw others to His feet…
Blessings and Happy Birthday friend!
That is fantastic Cindy! I love your how you said you want your years to reflect His wisdom. Beautiful!
I try to do something with girlfriends – a movie night, dinner, anything just to enjoy the day. I think birthdays are good…to not have them would mean to stop living.
I LOVE your candle pictures, how did you do that with the dancing flames? I love to welcome my birthday with a new book, which can be used or new, just new to me to read. 🙂
karen
For me, every birthday is a gift–I’m still here. I wake up and think “thank you, God!” I often think of the Shehecheyanu, the Jewish prayer for celebrating special occasions. The prayer thanks God, “who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion.” It is repeated on any special occasion and definitely fits a birthday!
That is a beautiful prayer April. Thank you so much for sharing that!
My Grandmother lived to be 94; she died on my birthday. Her birthday mantra? “Yeah, I’m old but it sure beats the alternative.” Every year, we have friends over for my birthday – lots of smiles, lots of laughs and lots of chocolate. Grandma would love it! I may be getting older, but perhaps one day I’ll have a Faith as strong as hers as well as a sense of humor about most everything just like she did.
–SueBE
What a wonderful gift to have such a special grandmother like that in your life. Love that! 🙂
I have a birthday this month, too. I’m going to be 62. How old are you going to be?
And when older folks tell you age is just a number, our word for it and don’t get hung up on how many candles. From where I am, the perspective is completely different.
=) Sure hoping I can welcome it like that…not much time left! =) God bless you and thank you for sharing!
Happy birthday month, friend. Thanks for all the beauty you bring to our lives.
What a great perspective, Jennifer! I hope your birthday month is as beautiful as you!
Amen! (from another May baby)
When I was about 6, our family was going to a small Baptist church in our town. Having no family nearby, an elderly couple (the Barlows) “adopted” us. I had many happy hours at their house, climbing their maple trees, picking grapes from their grapevine, and eating sherbet floats. One day my mother, Ms. Lilly and I were in Ms. Lilly’s kitchen when I asked one of those questions that every mother of a small child dreads for their children to ask other adults: I asked Ms. Lilly how old she was. My mother tried to shush me, but Ms. Lilly said something I have never forgotten which has colored my view on birthdays ever since. Ms. Lilly said, “I love for people to ask me how old I am. It gives me a chance to praise God for every year He’s given me. Don’t ever be ashamed of your age. It shows how much He loves and cares for you.” (I am paraphrasing some, but the gist is accurate.) Anyway, I took her words to heart. This is my 39th year and I am happy to tell anyone who asks.
Oh my… I love Ms. Lilly. How sweet is she!?! What a perfect way to embrace your birthday. Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful story Amy! 🙂
This is a great post, Jennifer…. a good reminder to me too – last year I turned 30, and I felt a little bummed about it. But you’ve reminded me that 30 years have been a GIFT, and that having a 30th (or 40th or 99th) are also gifts – more time to be a light. Thanks….
Jennifer,
I love the idea of not focusing on the light coming from the candles on our cake, but our light within. Happy birthday, girl.
[…] of my birthday… my (in)courage post was up yesterday. it is about my new perspective on my birthday this year. […]
I hv come to realize yes, they are just numbers. It’s how we fill our days .. that’s what matters. We must choose to be happy, every day. Make ea moment count. xo hugs
I use to sweat getting older. Then one of my good friends died of breast cancer at age 44. I got over any age hang-ups and learned to appreciate that I was having another birthday. Some of us need big wake up calls to appreciate what we have. I’m having another birthday next week. I embrace them all now 🙂
i like the idea of our light shining bright – brighter with each year.
Here’s wishing you a Happy Birthday and that you find the light in every moment of each day. Fondly, Roberta
I couldn’t agree with ya more. Happy Birthday:)
Today is my 54th birthday. Since my mom died when she was 56 (I was 26), I am oh-so-grateful for the life God has given me. To be sure, there have been sorrows… even some lonely birthdays… but, EACH DAY is God’s gift and I am grateful I can celebrate my life today with my family. Thx for this excellent reminder to embrace a grateful perspective. And, I LOVE the story of Ms. Lilly – THAT’S us in just a few more years, huh? You, me, and all of us above – glorifying the Lord for the blessed life He has given us! =)