So last week I turned 36. It was a great birthday. I got a new IPod (my old one had broken). I had this great wine tasting party with fifteen friends. It was just awesome way to celebrate the day. For me it was a time to realize what a blessed life I have. It seems that we always celebrate birthdays with a certain disdain. We are upset because we are getting older, or we realize that life is not forever. However, birthdays should be a celebration of the life God has given unto us. My grandmother always calls birthdays creation days. It is true this is a celebration that God created us in the first place. And we invite others who care about us to celebrate our life as well. It is not about a death march to horrible place called old age. It is a journey of being alive.



I was telling my friends that my goal in life is not to have a mid-life crisis. (although I kinda had one when I was 24, but that is a different story.) I want to enjoy every phase of my life. There were some great things about being a kid. I loved the freedom, the ability to simply play and enjoy the day. There were some things I did not like. Having to go to bed at a certain time, having to eat the food my parents bought. There was some great things about being a teenager, about being twenty, and now there are good and bad things about being 36. But whatever the age it is all life. It is all about what God has given to us, and that each day is a gift. Each day is an opportunity to love others, to have joy in our work, and to celebrate the small but significant moments. That is my goal to live each day as a gift, and to celebrate each day as a wonderful part of the journey.