Worship Wednesdays - Why I Celebrate Birthday Week!

This is a week when we gather around tables, share time with family, eat great feasts, and celebrate one of the finest holidays of the year... my birthday!

Yes, I know there's another holiday tomorrow 

and that's a fine one too, 

but today is my birthday!!!

In my family, we celebrate Birthday Week. When Gerald and I first started dating, I was mocked for celebrating Birthday Week. I was told it was silly and maybe even a little childish (insert my snort of derision here...). Of course, it's also piles of fun, so it was no surprise when in just a few years, another Birthday Week started to appear in March...

I actually love that my birthday falls so close to American Thanksgiving, as I consider Gratitude to be a large part of my birthday celebrations. The whole point of Birthday Week isn't to receive a week's worth of presents, but to enjoy a week's worth of presence:

I take time each day to enjoy visits with friends and family, sometimes with a party, but mostly with hours spent eating treats or sipping lattes.

I spend a little extra time in Scripture and prayer, talking to the One who knew me before my first breath, who "knit me together in my mother's womb".

I respond to each message I receive on Facebook, giving thanks for the ability to keep in touch with friends from around the world with a few simple key strokes.

I praise God that I am able to make a living doing something I love so dearly, and I also take time off and enjoy the blessings of rest and restoration.

I reflect on the past year, giving thanks for blessings, challenges, and lessons learned.

I spend time looking ahead to the next year, dreaming of new challenges and asking myself questions like "How can I become more _____?" and "How can I do _____?"

Birthdays have taken on new meaning since May 3, 2009. On that day, Death passed near us and God said, "Not today." I'm so incredibly aware that, with a slight adjustment in trajectory, I might not be here to celebrate this birthday. So I will never complain about my age or my years. I want to live long and earn lots of wrinkles. I will live life to the fullest, choose the adventure over the comfortable, never miss a chance to say "I love you" and turn everything I am and have over to God...

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To him who reigns above,

Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,

Whose ev'ry thought is love.

For ev'ry day I have on earth

Is given by the King;

So I will give my life, my all,

To love and follow him.

(My Heart is Filled, verse 3. By Keith & Kristyn Getty.)

Happy Thanksgiving! 

And for some of us, Happy Birthday!

Let's give thanks...

Worship Wednesdays is a weekly series to encourage and equip worship leaders and songwriters. Bookmark this page & visit us every Wednesday!