Birthday Thoughts & Highlights

I haven't figured out yet if my random bouts of emotion are due to getting older, or simply because I'm female...or both! Either way, yesterday was one of those days. From my mom's phone call at the start of the day, leading her elementary students in singing me the birthday song, to sweet emails from friends, to all of the other little surprises which came my way, I was truly touched and almost cried numerous times. I tried to capture some of the highlights from my 27th birthday:

One of my closest friends, perhaps my closest here in Louisville, gave me a huge surprise right in the middle of my workday! While I was in a meeting, she came to the office with one of her kids and left the above cake at my desk...An oatmeal cookie cake measuring about 18 inches across made with white chocolate chips...it was divine. She also left a sweet note and some new little scrapbooking items. (I think I made some new friends at work thanks to her!).
My mother sent a package which contained a recipe book and a clock. This is the clock my grandparents gave to her and my father back in 1977! It was the familiar chime I heard throughout my childhood and one of those sentimental items I always secretly hoped to inherit. I was definitely surprised to receive it now since she had given no indication that she was going to hand it off to me anytime soon. She knows I am the sentimental one in the family, so I assume she wasn't all that surprised by my emotional response when I called to thank her~

The way to a wife's heart? Well, for this wife a sure way is to grill tenderloin, vegetables, and stuffed banana peppers~

And my husband definitely knows me well. He gave me a new coffee maker that has a programable timer, and the new movie "Marley & Me"! If you ever have the privilege of seeing me in the morning hours, you will see why having the ability to preset the coffee is just short of necessity~

As an appropriate ending to a sweet and humbling birthday, we watched "Marley & Me." In conclusion to a day of being on the verge of tears, I just went ahead bawled. And just as I did after seeing the movie in the theater, I hugged my two wonderful dogs a little tighter.

~

One thing I am learning with each passing year is how much the little things in life can be the most sweet and valuable. My husband and I both enjoyed quiet, fairly uneventful birthdays. The quality of the time spent together was sweet, and that's what was so treasured for both of us. This year already feels as if it's flashing before our eyes, and I want to savor every day and moment we are given. In contrast to some previous years, I do feel older in turning 27. I don't feel older in any negative ways, but rather as one more year in which I am growing both personally and in my relationships. Each passing day is a gift, and my birthday was one more opportunity to take in and really reflect on this reality of the unmerited grace I have been given. The Lord is indescribably good~