Every Day Birthday

Today is my birthday. I'm 31. I am no longer 30, I am now IN my thirties. Yes, it's different. Still laughing at me? Well, okay, but I'm just saying - I'm in my thirties. I am now fully separated from my twenties. I've decided that I am not going to hide my age - ever. I always laugh when people who look 45 say they're 29 (psst...nobody believes you anyway - just fess up!). So, you heard it here...I just committed to always saying my age - yikes!
Birthdays are so interesting and everyone celebrates them differently. Some people are HUGE birthday people. These types create birthday weeks, or if permitted, birthday months! They adore the celebration of them - and who could blame them? Since I've been awake today anytime I would think, "I would really like to...", my next thought would be, "Hey! It's my birthday! I might actually get to do what I want today - sweet!" Isn't that funny? Just because I was born on this day, thirty-one years ago (see, I said it again - so far so good), I think maybe I can get my way all day. Hilarious! I have two small children...quit dreamin'!
What if we celebrated each other every day? I mean, truly, I'm glad my friends and family were born every day and not just on their birthdays. What if each day we served each other like many of us get served on our birthday? I bet I'll hear at least a few times today, "It's your birthday, it's up to you." So what if each day I said to Dock, "It's your day" everyday? Think about it. If his attitude was "It's your day" to me and mine "It's your day" to him. Nobody would lose.
I really think this is why Jesus encourages us so often in Scripture to "consider others better than yourself" (Philippians 3). Then, the passage describes Jesus' attitude by saying that even though He was in "very nature" God, He did not "consider equality with God something to be grasped." In a nutshell, Jesus could have pulled a whole bunch more favors and "I'm better than you" cards - and been accurate in doing so, yet, He humbled Himself - "made Himself nothing." This is the attitude of Christ - others before ourselves - others better than ourselves. I think we most often grasp this when we celebrate birthdays. So what if we gave each other an "every day birthday". I'm talking about a "you before me" day - every day. Sounds REALLY hard. It also sounds REALLY Jesus.
I'm going to try to do this today. I'm not guaranteeing I'll do it perfectly, but I'm going to pray that the Spirit will enable me to give others around me an "every day birthday" today. Want to join me? Come on - it's my party, I can ask if I want to!

Heat Wave

Is it me, or is it hot outside? Not that I'm complaining. If it's going to be summer, it might as well be hot, I'm just not used to all this hydrating, slip n' sliding, plant watering, and sweating. I think it's funny how we have to wind down to settle into winter and wind up to get into the swing of summer. Our energy levels seem to follow the changing seasons.
I loved summer as a child. The pool, the popsicles, the family visits - so many things to just ENJOY. This is Avery's first summer home after being an "all day" school girl this past year. We'll see how it's going to go, but I have a feeling that if I get a nickel for every time I hear, "I want somebody to play with", I will be rich by mid-August!
We're moving ahead into the second and last week of the "Boomerang" series at Southland and it's about walking with the wise in order to be wise. Who do you plan to "play with" during your summer down time? How have you chosen to invest in making connections with people who can speak wisdom into your life that you cannot gain on your own? Maybe as things heat up and potentially slow down you could start taking inventory of who is in your life and whether or not you have some wisdom pouring into you from those relationships. I really believe God desires us to have and value wisdom and so if you find you are lacking these relationships, I bet if you ask for one, God will provide it at just the right time.
Sound like an optimist? Well, I am. Glass half full type of gal sitting here. For the life of me, the whole glass half empty thing just makes me not want a drink at all so I go with the half full. God wants what's best for you. So much of His wisdom is available to you ALL the time - The Bible. Maybe your poolside reading could include just reading portions or books of the Old Testament like novels. Trust me, plenty of the books in there read like one.
For many of you, summer looks much the same as the rest of the year. Work in the week, rest (or attempts at rest) on the weekends. No worries. Most of us are there. I hope that as it's lighter later in the day you have more outside time than you ever dreamed and I hope that you find or utilize wise people to walk with you. Happy Summer!