Skip to main content

Birthday Week

By April 2, 2013August 30th, 2022Devotional

Well, today is Janet’s birthday. As you know, we are in Alabama and I am wondering if somebody on the staff here in the hotel put a notice out that today is Janet’s special day. I mean she is getting greetings from everywhere. Servers, the front desk folks, managers in the restaurants and even people in the spa area are aware that Janet is celebrating the passing of another year. She has let me know that this year she really wants to be thinking about her birthday all week – not just today.

Yesterday, we went shopping and today we again spent the day out on the town. Several folks sent gifts down with us in the car so Janet has paced herself opening all the packages. She loves it. Tomorrow I have to work half the day and so Janet will spend the afternoon in the spa. Whenever we travel to a resort, Janet seems to enjoy getting more engaged with the services they offer; and I’m glad she has a good time.

With each passing year, our relationship gets even more comfortable than it has throughout all the years we have already shared together. This makes 40 years this summer that we have been married and more than 55 years since we first met way back in Sunday school back on the south side of Chicago.

Janet’s parents and her two sisters are almost as much my family as they are hers. I have known all of them since before Janet’s younger sister was born in 1960. There’s something comforting about knowing somebody that many years. I am not as close to my own brothers as I am to her family, and in all honesty, her family is still together and that makes for quite a story of living life together.

This week, a similar example has occurred with our own daughter, Kristin. We’ve been together since Sunday and it seems natural. Probably because we raised all the kids and still maintain a comfortable relationship with all of them. So, Jill and Andrew are the same way – easy to be around – at least for a period of time.

But not so easy as it is to be around Janet. We went shopping together yesterday and she picked out exactly the same stuff that I would have chosen had I been there alone. It’s uncanny that she knows what I like and I can say the same thing about her. I guess that’s what happens when you spend so much time together over so many years.

So, Janet and I will see what the next year holds for her, and for me. We plan to travel and spend our 40th anniversary somewhere we haven’t been before. I continue to work and Janet continues to be the model grandparent for our 6 grandchildren. And while I can’t say that we would want to live here, we are getting to know our way around Florence, AL. Hopefully, we will have other adventures as the year progresses.

The verse tonight reflects God’s creation of each of us as individuals, in God’s own image. Psalm 139 is the best example of God’s handiwork in our lives. We are told, in Ps. 139:13-14, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” And that’s the beauty of God. He creates each of us differently and gives special thought to who He wants us to be and how He wants us to go through life. Certainly, you must realize that I also believe that God creates a partner for each of us and I believe that God created Janet for me.

So, as I said several years ago, it’s Janet’s birthday but I received the gift. And I remember that each year on her special day. My encouragement this evening is that God has created you as a special being also. And your birthday is the recognition that God has a special thing for you to do and has uniquely created you as well. My prayer is that you will find that special person that God has in mind for you. And if by chance that has already happened in your life, then I pray that you appreciate the gift that God has given you. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace… And Happy Birthday, Janet…  I’m excited to be your husband and I love you…

Leave a Reply