By "this" I mean aging, a word that many folks want to avoid and/or ignore. I don't. Age is not a state of mind. It's simply a measure of how long your body has been on earth. Right? And aging is different for different people. Some folks reach forty no wiser than they were at twenty. Really. I've met a few. I can't claim to be all that wise, but I'm definitely wiser now than two decades ago.
Let me illustrate using a simple, real life example from the past six months. I decided some time in January or February that I wanted my fortieth birthday to be a little more special than previous birthdays. I am married to a man who loves me as Christ loves the church. For real. He chooses the highest good for me so consistently, a definition for love that I learned in Junior High and never forgot. Love is choosing the highest good for the other person. Erik does that. And at the same time he is ADD.
What does that mean for birthdays usually? Has Erik ever forgotten my birthday? NO! I would never let him do that. He would feel terrible. I would feel terrible. It would BE terrible. I love him, people. So, I help him remember the things that are important to me. And when I want something to be special, I TELL HIM. Toward that end, as I realized that I wanted my birthday to be more epic than normal, I started sending him ideas from Pinterest in February. Not in a nagging, annoying way. More like a "Maybe this" way. People, I didn't start a board and pin all the ideas I wanted him to consider and then spend six months looking through it all. I found one idea that I really liked and sent it to him. About seven months in advance. And then I forgot about it. Honestly. The forgetting part was pretty easy. My memory is not that great anyway!
Let me fast forward to Wednesday morning this week. I didn't actually sleep well on Tuesday because I was SO excited for my birthday. It's true. I knew I was going to be spending the bulk of the day with my dear friend, Holly, and we don't get to do that very often. So, I woke up at 5:30 a.m., went out to the kitchen, started the coffee maker and headed to the living room for some quiet time. As I walked into the room, I noticed some candles on a side table that usually live on the mantel. Not grumpy, but a little perplexed, I turned toward them to put them back where they belong. That's when I noticed it. Big. Pink. 40. It will be easier to show you.
Each sheet is from a different friend or family member and contains memories of time spent with me. I was above and beyond surprised friends by this display. And yes, I sent Erik something similar to this idea about seven months ago. And then I forgot, so I was TOTALLY surprised! Perfect.
Erik and I spent the morning reading through the pages and pages of memories as recorded by some of our closest friends. Some of them were funny. Some of them were poignant. All of them were encouraging and edifying, reminding me of all the Lord Jesus Christ has done to save me and transform me over the past forty years. You see, I have recently fallen into the trap of thinking untrue things about myself. I'm not sure why, for whatever reason, it just hasn't been uncommon for me to be thinking thoughts like, "I'm not a great mom," or "I don't really have much to offer folks." Those are lies, but if you've ever heard them, you know how easy it is to believe them.
Each one of these pages told me the truth about myself in Christ Jesus. I have loved well in His name. I have encouraged others in His strength. I have shown His light in dark places through His power and not my own. Oh, how I needed to read these things about myself. What a great gift. I was so blessed by my husband's efforts and the time my friends and family took to create this present. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Sidenote: it was also easy on the budget (pink construction paper from the playroom plus printer paper from the office). Nice.
Next stop: Holly's house! Time for another picture.
Isn't this lovely? Holly and I enjoyed a late breakfast of scrambled eggs with pesto accompanied by a cup of English Breakfast at this beautifully appointed table. My children were somewhere in this house or its adjoining yard at that point. I don't really know where. Perfect.
After our leisurely brunch, during which Holly's ten year old daughter willingly waited on us despite having been freed to go and play, we loaded the kids in the van to take them to free lunch in the park. I love this program. The kids arrive, wash their hands, and are given a bag lunch. My kids are finally old enough to actually eat the food. Luke ate his turkey sandwich and Paul ate his hummus and pita bread with a side of string cheese. Holly and I enjoyed more conversation and the shade.
Our lunch table in the shade.
After lunch, we dropped all the kids back at the house (with the fifteen and thirteen year old in charge), made some quick iced coffee with caramel, and headed for the bead shop about seven minutes away.
This was Holly's birthday surprise for me. We made bracelets together in the craft room at the local bead shop. It was SO much fun. I'm not crafty at all, but I can put beads on a string. And so we spent a couple hours picking beads, stringing beads, and chatting uninterrupted by kids.
Ready to bead it up kid-free!
Planning my pink bracelet. I like pink.
Nearly finished...
Done and awesome.
We headed back to the house where Holly put together another stunning meal of chicken salad. I think I took a picture of that goodness...
Yep. Pretty amazing, huh?
I cannot thank my dear Holly enough for making my day so very lovely. I am grateful for you, friend.
The boys and I headed home, where Erik made pancakes and bacon for dinner with my mom as a guest. Cheap and complaint-free were what I wanted for dinner on my birthday. This meal is both every time. We enjoyed my mom's award winning apple pie for dessert. Okay. She's never won any awards for it, but that's only because she's never entered it in any contests. If she did, it would win.
Then I jetted out the door for the first evening of our Roots Women Summer Bible Study. I was asked to co-lead that adventure and said yes, knowing the first meeting would fall on my fortieth birthday. Why would I do that? Simple. I love the Bible and I love being with women to study it. We had a blast. We studied Mary and Martha. I gleaned sweet, awesome truth from women who shared what God taught them through the study. I shared what God taught me. People, this is exactly the kind of thing I LOVE doing and getting to do it on my birthday was epic. There was also cheesecake. And they sang to me. So, that happened, too. (Yes, I ate two desserts on my birthday, but it's okay because I didn't have any pancakes...)
Overall, turning forty has been sweet. Being forty? So far, so good. And I have a plan to help the goodness continue. I'm going to take the birthday money gifted to me so very generously by my fabulous in-laws, and I am going to take piano lessons! EEK! I'm so excited! I took lessons between the ages of eight and fifteen-ish. Since then, I have also learned to play in a worship band and accompany myself if given a chord chart or a piece of sheet music that I can fake my way through. A short while ago, I found myself talking to a friend about wanting to study piano again in earnest. She was SO encouraging and even loaned me some of her piano books from her youth. For the record, she started at the top of the pile with her most difficult books, and I kept her flipping through until we hit the books for junior highers. I've been working my way through one of them, and it's a perfect fit. We all knew I was still in junior high mentally, right? ;-)
1 comment:
God began such a loving work in you 40 years ago and it has been my joy to watch it grow. Have a wonderful decade!
Love you, Mom
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