Birthdays are a kind of a
Big deal. If you've ever attended or seen photos of my daughters' parties, you'll notice that I have a tendency to go a bit overboard on the anniversary of their birth. I get that from my momma. For as far back as I can remember my mom made sure that our birthdays were something special. We always got (& still get) to choose our favorite meal & the kind of cake we wanted. Each year she sent us to school with special birthday treats for our class, & at the end of the day we got called into the office to pick up the surprise she'd had delivered. On a few occasions we even got to play hooky....eeerrr...happened to be 'sick' on our birthday & had a whole day filled with one-on-one time. There were special parties with scary....I mean funny clowns...sleepovers...shopping excursions. Don't even get me started on the gifts...the Minnie Mouse watch (with red leather band) or my Sweet Sixteen surprise of a black Pontiac Sunfire (complete with giant red bow). I'll never forget my first birthday away from home...my momma got up early, & drove 30 minutes to have breakfast with me because neither she nor I could imagine spending that day apart. Oh yes, my momma & daddy have always made sure that our birthdays were something special, & I've tried to carry on that tradition with my gaggle...because birthdays are kind of a big deal.
Everyone knows what a birthday is...it's the anniversary of an individual's birth. Nerd that I am, I was curious to see it's official definition, & I must say that I was a bit intrigued by what I found. The first description of birthday was the fore mentioned one, but the second is this: The Day When Something Began. I like that. I like it a lot.
Those of you who know me well know that I'm a wee bit introspective...I'm also a crier...which makes me a bit of a schizophrenic basket case, but alas I deviate. A few years ago, birthdays (all holidays really) became a time of deep emotional reflection for me. On the anniversary of a loved one's birth, I pray for them...I think about him/her & our relationship...I contemplate the way I see God's sovereign hand moving in their life...I feel very deeply what a big deal their birthday is...because on that given day, however many years ago, something began.
My own birthday (which is terribly imminent) causes the same reaction within me...because just in case you missed it, I'm kind of a big deal. I jest. You see, I was a bit of surprise to my momma & daddy, but by God's grace they decided to view my life as an endowment rather than as an uh-oh. I was, however, actually kind of a 'for real' big deal on my dad's side as I was the first girl to be born after a marathon of 8 boys in a row. (If you know the Rainey boys, you know well just how big of a deal that really was!) In my rather lengthy introduction I detailed just how extravagant my birthday has always been...because greatly loved I am. My birthday has always, above all else, reminded me of just that...how greatly loved I am.
About the time I became a schizophrenic basket case (an over exaggeration I assure you), I began to think long & hard about my own birthday. For several years now, on the anniversary of my birth, I have reflected on the beginning of my life & of all that has proceeded since. Perhaps what has recurred most often in my reflections is this: my birthday indeed has very little to do with me. That suggestion must seem quite contradictory in light of my elaborate birthday celebrations, but it's true nonetheless. My birthday is truly about those who love me...about those who gave me life in the first place. As I mentioned previously, my parents chose life for me, & beyond that they blessed me with an incredibly amazing childhood. They raised me to be the woman that I am today...what an incredible gift they have been to me! Indeed, my birthday has little to do with me & everything to do with the One who gave me life. My birthday is about the Author of Life...about the One who knit me together in my mother's womb & numbered the hairs on my head (Psalm 139:13 & Luke 12:7). My birthday is about the He who appointed a day & an hour to begin something...to begin something with me.
'Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.' -Psalm 139:16
My Father knew me...He knew me before I ever truly was. These last 28 years & 361 days were known to Him...they were predestined long before that day when something began. The years of my life that have already been...the years (I hope) of my life that are yet to be, come as no surprise to the One who wrote the story. It astonishes me...it baffles me...it humbles me...it overflows my heart...to think of His writing the story of my life. My birthday has become the turning of a page, the ending of one chapter & beginning of another, in the story that is my life. Each anniversary of my birth, I am excited anew to see what He else that He has written. I'm at a time in my life in which many dread the passing of another year & bemoan all the superficial fleshly failings that come with added age...but for me...well the excitement of reading the next chapter far outweighs all that...because I have again realized that my birthday indeed has very little to do with me. It is not about me & my life at all!
'I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' -Galatians 2:20
My life belongs to my Savior...I surrendered it long ago. The anniversary of my birth is not about me, but truly about He who lives in me! My birthday is a reminder not only of something that began nearly 29 years ago, but more importantly of an eternal life that was provided through Amazing Grace. Each birthday may certainly gift me with fleshly failings, but beyond that it presents me with something far greater...a reminder that He began something with me. Each birthday I am beyond thrilled...not to receive gifts but to be a gift...to pass on THE gift. My birthday has become a time of reminder to continue on with what He began.
'Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.' -Philippians 1:5-6
More than anything else on my birthday I desire this: to share the gift of Jesus with you. I long for you to know that for you too there is a day when something began. He wrote the days of your life in His book as well. He preordained your precious life. He gave it to you...so that you could give it back to Him. God began something with you...are you not curious to see what that something might be? Your name next to mine in His book of life would be the greatest gift you could give me. Friend, I can think of no greater joy nor gift than to know one day together we will celebrate the culmination of this something that began. I'd be beyond honored to share this gift with you. Please talk to me if you'd like to know how to receive it. Begin a new chapter with Him today!
