Happy Birthday to Me!

So, 29 years ago, my mom went into labor around 9am, and I entered this world around 9:30pm, and every year since, I have lived a life that most children around the world probably only dream of living--simple, priviledged, and full of love. (And if you don't believe that you too have lived a priviledged life here in the USofA, you really should check into how the majority of people on planet earth live their lives--we are definitely priviledged, and a little wasteful.)

But God put all of us here for a reason "for such a time as this," and I can't help on this day but be grateful. I've taken a little flashback through my life in song today, just random songs on different radio stations, but there were two that got me all choked up a little.

The first was Mylie Cyrus' new song, "The Climb." Now, whether you are a fan of pop, rock, country, rap, heavy metal, etc. I believe that all talent is God-given talent and can be used for His glory. This song, hit a note for me. Maybe it's because she's so young and been in the public eye so much for what people would call "questionable decisions" or mistakes. But don't we all make those? She just has to do it in front of the whole world...I digress. Maybe the song hit a chord with me because at such a young age, she has written (or at least sings with passion) a song about one of the dearest revelations in my life: Life's not about the mountains, you face; it's about the climb. My church puts it this way: Life's not about your destination; it's about the journey you take to get there.

I love the journey God has me on, climbing and all. I have spent a good part of my life wishing I could be of great an influence as Billy Graham, Beth Moore, Abraham Lincoln, and others. People who changed the world for God or for good or for both with their influence. That's always who the little person inside of me wants to be, but isn't the grass always greener on the other side of the fence? God has taught me that the sphere of influence I have today may not be the whole world, but it's my family and friends and people He causes me to cross paths with. The influence I have in just those relationships can cause a ripple effect that influences people I will never meet over generations I will never see. The hard part for most of us not called to what the world labels as "great and glorious" things is just sticking to the path you've been given and being faithful to follow His voice as it leads. So simple, yet so difficult, yet so fulfilling.

And that brings me to the second song that got me all choked up today: "In Color" by Jamey Johnson...see I told you I listened to a wide range=) This song made me think of all the wonderful memories and journies and stories I have from this life already! I am an avid photo collector and filer. I can't wait for the day when my grandkids sit around me, and I can pull out any photo album, carefully labeled with pictures all in chronological order and be able to tell them story after story of my life...at least from my middle school years on=) Now, today our photographs are in color, but I think the point of the song is that no photograph really does life justice. You only get a glimpse. It means nothing without the story, without the people, without the context, without that moment in time. And when I think of all the words I've written here and in journals, I think of how I try so hard to express what this life God has given me means to me, so that others will want what I have too.

I'm not an evangelist. I choke up making announcements in front of my group of Bible Study ladies, but on the inside, on paper--in black and white--I'm screaming out loud, "If only you could live my life in color! Really live it! It doesn't look like much, but I have a purpose. I have meaning. I am a success story in my God's eyes!" Who in this world doesn't want those things? Who in this life doesn't search for them? You don't have to be the next President of the US or the next great preacher of a revival. You just have to know Who made this life worth living. And I mean REALLY know Him. And to do that....it takes a lifetime.