Celebration – Me From the Inside Out

Celebrating Sixty-Three

Posted on July 20, 2025July 20, 2025 by

This is the Day

Earlier this week, someone sweetly wished me an early happy birthday, followed by: “You’ll be thirty right?” I laughed at the comment but quickly and gladly claimed my real age. While I may wish my body felt like it did at the age of thirty, I have never minded celebrating another year of life. Celebrating sixty-three years of life is a blessing I embrace today. It is a gift of grace from God, given with a purpose and a plan for each day to carry out the works He prepared in advance for me to do (Eph 2:10). I don’t always do it well, and I have grown more and more weary of this world in the past year or two. I have whispered, ‘Come quickly, Lord Jesus,’ more than ever. Yet, with all my heart, I welcome each new day that He wakes me up to, saying with the Psalmist, “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

When I come to the end of one year, I typically do some reflecting before embarking on the next one; and invariably, this little children’s song comes to my mind 💜🎂

Hey, if you missed my post from yesterday … check out my first birthday present!

My First Present

Birthdays, Family, Memories

My First Birthday Present

Posted on July 19, 2025July 20, 2025 by

He would have been 62 today. I would have called him with a happy birthday wish, sent him wishes through texts containing balloons, cakes, and confetti. If he had been in town, we would have seen each other and celebrated his special day – most likely with some Stewart hot dogs and strawberry shortcake. But, for the past 13 years, those wishes and celebrations have changed to a day(s) of remembering.

Actually, there’s not a day I don’t remember him, but on this day, I celebrate him and all the years we shared and the memories we made. He was my very first birthday present, seriously, a real, live baby doll. Yes, you read it correctly, My mother delivered him the day before my first birthday. As far back as I can remember, Joe was there to play with or to pester. As we grew older, he was there to protect me and help me when troubles or problems arose. Even in the years where life brought changes and miles of distance between us, our bond of being only 364 days apart held us tight.

Life has not been and will never be the same without him. There is a notable sorrow that fills the hole his absence has left behind. God is gracious to cover the hole with peace and even joyfilled memories but my world and life are a lonelier place without him in it. I miss his infectious smile and laughter, I miss him annoying me, and tomorrow morning I will miss his more than annoying 12 a.m. wake-up call to tell me happy birthday, with the explicit reminder that I am his older sister.

Bible study, Devotion, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

Off The Beaten Path –

Posted on July 26, 2024July 26, 2024 by

Day 5 – Celebration of Life Prayer 2.0

I posted this little blog on my 57th birthday five years ago. It was actually a prayer and one of the first prayer posts I shared under the category of “God is Good.” I have updated it to reflect my most recent birthday and share it here with you as a segue to the guest post by Ann Voskamp.

Celebration of Life / an edited post of July 20, 2019

God, you are good! You have blessed me with 62 years of life🎉 This number represents more than years of life. For it is also a reminder that …

through FAITH in Jesus Christ, I have known you as my God for 56 years – and
35 years ago, You brought me to a fuller understanding of Your marvelous grace, which profoundly and forever changed my life¹ – and
Since then, I have been GROWING in the knowledge of Your grace and of my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ ❤️ in the nurture and admonition of Your amazing, never-failing LOVE!

So, while I celebrate my birthday and am deeply grateful for another year of life – my greater celebration is in You!

I bow in worship and celebrate who You are and that You made Yourself known to me!
I bless and celebrate Your Name – Name above all Names –
I celebrate being adopted into Your family and known as a child of God!
I praise and celebrate You for all that You have done for me throughout these 62 years – You’ve protected, provided, and shown me Your kindness, love, and compassion. You’ve rescued me from pits of destruction and walked with me through countless valleys, and not once have You left me on my own —so I celebrate You and the day of my salvation 56 years ago!
again and again I praise and celebrate You for Your mercy and pursuit of this wayward lamb
and I celebrate the fuller understanding You have given me of Your life-changing grace and Your faithfulness to grow me up in the nurture and admonition of Your Love over the past 35 years!

When I was writing this post five years ago – a song from decades ago started playing in my mind – And will be my song of celebration every year of my life – not just for my celebration of years but even more for my celebration of life in Christ! 🎶

Listen to my birthday song. Then, I invite (and encourage)you to visit the link to Ann Voskamp’s blog. It is a wonderful musing of ideas and encouragement about God’s grace and the change that comes from knowing and embracing Him, the God who doesn’t change and can do the impossible.

Change is possible, when you embrace the God who doesn’t change and can do the impossible.
Ann VosKamp

The post is long but well worth the read – even if you read some today and some tomorrow …. How to Have a Better Second Half of Your Life

photo credits/Ann Voskamp