Celebrate Your Life

Philippians 1:4-6 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (NIV)
My twin boys spent almost fifteen minutes last night talking about their upcoming birthday party. They know where they want to go, whom they want to invite, what they want to eat, and what gifts they want to receive. It doesn’t matter that their birthday doesn’t come around until the end of August; they have been ready for this party for at least two months!

Remember how fun birthdays were when you were a child? I couldn’t sleep for almost a week before a birthday party. I would imagine the decorations, a big cake, and presents…oh, the presents! Birthday presents were always a wonderful combination of things you wanted and terrific surprises.

Somewhere along the line birthdays became a day to get through…or even ignore. We didn’t tell people that it was our special day because we didn’t really want to admit that we were getting older. We became embarrassed by the attention somewhere in our teens and we started minimizing the joy of the day.

How do you celebrate your children’s birthdays? Do you make a special dinner, hang crepe paper and balloons, and bake a homemade cake? Are there piles of presents wrapped in beautiful papers, tied up with ribbons and bows? After a week of hints and reminders, I bet your child feels like a king or queen on his/her birthday.

So why don’t you do this for yourself? God has graced us with yet another year of his glory, and that is worth celebrating! Each day he is continuing his good work in you. Your birthday is a great time to reflect on these changes and rejoice over who you are becoming.

Start planning now for your special day. If your birthday has already passed, that’s ok, just pick a day and celebrate anyway. Set aside a whole day and plan to do things you want. Find someone to take the kids for a portion of the day so you can sit down with God and review your past year. How have you grown? Are there things that you haven’t taken to him? He’s waiting for you to talk about your sin, your joy, and your dreams. Start a journal and list your prayers, the things you are thankful for, and the worries you want to pass over to God. Next year you can look back at all the blessings you have received.

Then spend the rest of the day having fun, whatever that means to you. Go to the park with the kids, go out to lunch with friends, or ‘play’ by indulging in your favorite hobby. Carry the celebration into the evening. Don’t rely on someone else to make your day special…love yourself enough to make it exactly the way you want. Hang streamers, blow up balloons, bake your favorite cake, and blow out as many candles as you want. Hey, even buy yourself a special present and wrap it beautifully…that’s one sure way to know that you’ll get what wish for!

God is pleased with celebration. Just look at all the celebrations he established in the Old Testament. He wants us to take joy in his creation, that includes you, and to enjoy this life he has given us.

Just think of the example you are setting for your children…you may be changing the way adults celebrate their birthdays for generations. Oh, and by the way, remember who had to do all the work on your original date of birth and send a thank you note to your mother!