A Good Day

Today is my birthday. When I thought about it at all, I really thought today would be a kind of sad day. With my husband gone and so many recent deaths, I thought it would be hard to see past the loss, but I was surprised by laughter today again and again. It has been a great day.

To begin with I had a plethora of Facebook friends that began wishing me a happy birthday last night and it has continued throughout the day. It has been so much fun to hear from people and receive their well wishes for my day and their comments on my rapidly approaching old age. I cherish each and every person who took the time to tease me, challenge me and wish me Happy Birthday.

I had a co-worker who grabbed a couple of hamburgers, packed a picnic lunch and took me for a walk across the brand new pedestrian bridge across the Willamette River. It was a bright sunshiny day that is very rare in Oregon … in April. It was beautiful. We sat at the river’s edge and ate our lunch and just watched the water flow by. I could feel the stress just slowly dissipate. It was a wonderful, unexpected interlude in the middle of a very busy day. It was a perfect present and I was filled with a sense of peace as I sat there.

My daughter stopped by with a present and card. It was so good to see her. She gave me a plaque that says “Dance as if no one can see you.” It is the perfect gift. She knows how I have struggled with feeling like a big clumsy cow in dance class. Sometimes it is so hard to just try. It was a very good reminder and a good challenge for me as well.

I got a card from the men’s staff that had them recorded saying happy birthday Connie. I was so surprised. I did not even know they made cards like that. I will keep that card around to remind me of the time they took to let me know they care. I was blessed and surprised.

And tonight I get to have dinner with friends. I am so looking forward to it. It will be a full and busy day. It will be a good and wonderful day. Not what I expected, but something so much better.

I think that tells me something about my thought processes. Perhaps I need to stop expecting it to be “hard” or “bad”. Perhaps I need to expect that God has good things in store for me today. How would my life be changed if I lived a life of expectancy? Today was a good day … I think I will expect tomorrow to be even better.

“O LORD, you are God! You have promised these good things to your servant”. 1 Chronicles 17:26

Just Connie