Birthday Blessings

 On the morning of my 79th birthday, I paused in front of my refrigerator door to look lovingly at a photo of my sweet mother. 

I thought about how she must have suffered on this day all those many years ago when she was giving birth to her first child. I assume she felt indescribable joy in the midst of the agony that day, as I did years later when giving birth to each of my two precious daughters.

I also thought about how Jesus endured great agony on the cross in order to make spiritual life available to me centuries upon centuries later. 

I thought about how my mother always cared tenderly and faithfully for me as long as she was physically able to do so. 

Jesus is still tenderly and faithfully caring for me.

My mother departed this life during my 63rd year of life. 

But Jesus, who has been with me since before I was born and all the days since, is now sitting at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession* for me, advocating for me, providing all that I need.

How blessed I am to have had a loving mother who endured suffering while bringing life to me. How even more blessed I am to have a Savior who suffered to bring spiritual life to me. How blessed I am to have had both to love me unconditionally and to rejoice over me. 

Reflecting on that prompts me to pause to give thanks for them and for ALL I’ve been given and am being given, including another year of life. May my life honor them and bless others.

*Hebrews 12:2; Romans 8:34

Thankful for the Homeland

 A few days before the 250th celebration of America's Independence Day, I joined in with friends in the singing of patriotic songs.  My heart filled with gratitude as we sang America the Beautiful, My Country Tis of Thee,  The Star-Spangled Banner, and others. 

As we sang This Land is Your Land, my mind flashed back to the days when my third grade students and I sang those lyrics. At that time, in the late 60s and early 70s, I had never seen -- and neither had they -- the places mentioned in the song. But since then, I have been blessed to see many of them, including the Redwood Forest, the Gulf Stream waters, the golden valleys (in California and in Yellowstone National Park), and ribbons of highway visible for miles in places like Montana.

Since singing those songs and re-living memories, I've often had thoughts like these: Thank You, God, for choosing America as a homeland for me. It is, indeed, a wonderful one. Not a perfect one, but definitely a wonderful land filled with breathtaking beauty and unparalleled freedom.