It is time for me to share a little more of my personal life with you. I have just survived quite a weekend. My 76th birthday was Saturday. It is another personal best for me age-wise, but I would have been happy to just let it slip quietly by like any other day if it wasn’t for all of the wonderful people God placed in my life who wanted to celebrate it with me.
It all began at the weekly, Saturday breakfast meeting with my Christian brothers at 6 am at Cracker Barrel. There were five men and one young boy joining together to pray, break bread, fellowship, discuss scripture and share prayer requests and praise reports. The Holy Spirit was also in attendance as always. It was a very special occasion indeed. Our wonderful Christian server even dug up a free muffin for my birthday. I don’t know if it was because of the love I was feeling or the fact that it was free, but that muffin sure tasted great.
By the time I got home I was already starting to receive the first wave of birthday messages on Face Book, emails, texts, greeting cards and phone calls. It eventually took me almost two hours to respond to them all. I put the finishing touches on my blog for Sunday and then a dear sister in Christ picked me up to go out for a birthday dinner. She had arranged for a mutual friend of ours to join us and we were at the restaurant nearly three hours enjoying each other’s company. A free slice of pie was served to me (as if I needed any more calories at that point).
Sunday morning my wonderful neighbor brought me some corned beef shepherd’s pie from her family St. Patrick’s Day meal along with more temping desserts. She also gave me a study Bible, puzzle books, a greeting card with a touching handwritten note and a festive Happy Birthday balloon. I almost felt like I was twelve again (almost). Another wonderful sister in Christ drove me to the noon service and then took me out to lunch afterward. Later, when I finally began to get hungry again, I had a late dinner of the corned beef, but saved the desserts for another day (my first healthy decision of the entire weekend).
I’m sharing all of this with you because my heart is overflowing with the love of all of those dear friends and with my gratitude for them. You would think that all of this attention would be quite an ego booster, but it is actually quite humbling. It sort of reminds me of the time Jack Benny received a prestigious award and his short acceptance speech went something like this: “I don’t really deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either, so I’ll take it. Thank you.” You youngsters may need to google to find out who Jack Benny was. He also stopped counting birthdays after 39; a practice my wife emulated. When someone asked how old I was this weekend I told them that I am 39 plus shipping and handling.
Sadly, sometimes it takes a special occasion for us to realize how many people we have touched and who touch us daily. Never take any relationship for granted no matter how trivial it may seem. We are created for loving relationships with God and with others. It is not a suggestion. It is what Jesus commands us to do. (John 13:34)