I find there is much to be grateful for.....

Another birthday rolls around and I find that there is much to be grateful for. I know I have been divinely favoured especially in these very recent years. Sometimes I feel hand-picked "for such a time as this" and in these quiet moments of reflection that a birthday normally affords, I cannot help but feel overwhelmed with the awesome mantle I am called to bear. I am grateful everyday that our Creator sees in me that which I was unable to see for so long. I am eternally grateful for the grace He has afforded me over the years.

Birthdays  often bring us to a place of quiet reflection. We are forced to contend with thoughts of what we have achieved over the years...whether our accomplishments match our goals we set ourselves over the years....what if we had done that thing our heart longed/longs for....where might we have been had we been brave enough to take the risks that could have been life-changing. Yeah, birthdays have a way of doing that to you....if you are not careful where your thoughts take you.

But today as I contemplate the great 'what ifs' and 'whethers' of my own life, I am forced to shelf any lingering thoughts of underachievement and inadequacy. I am instead faced with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Yes......look how far I have come. Look what God has done....Look at what I have left behind....and I am reveling in the freedom that I am afforded to simply be....and become. I know that every tomorrow is divinely ordained. I know that every tomorrow will count for something...something bigger than me....I know the purpose to which I am called, I see the Plan into which I fit...I see my role and I gladly put on the mantle....I will create the change to which I am called.

So today...now....right in this moment of this 'next level' birthday. I pause....and I give thanks. For the blessings of this moment....for the hope of tomorrow....for the friends who have been with me on this journey...for the lives I have been able to impact so far and for those I will influence who I have not yet met. I am grateful for every lesson learnt on the journey so far and I look forward to the many lessons of the future. I listen to the age-old wisdom of men but I defer to the Wisdom of the Divine. I eagerly anticipate each new day, knowing that God is doing a new thing in me. I claim it even as I move into a new era of accomplishments with faith and humility.

Happy birthday to me. I immerse myself even now in an anticipation of the future. Forever in His debt.