The Beauty of Another Birthday — Carol McLeod Ministries
It’s my birthday tomorrow … and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it!
Now … I am not telling you so that you can buy me a gift or send me a card … that’s not the reason at all.
I am telling you it is my birthday because I want to give you a gift!
I actually want to give you 69 gifts … one that represents each year of my very young life!
I can’t wait to tell you all of the things that I love about life … and I am hoping that you will embrace these reasons as well.
So … here we go … are you ready? Get ready to fall in love with life all over again … whether it is your birthday or not!
1 – I love walking outside and drinking in God’s creation.
2 – I love listening to music all year long … but especially at Christmas time.
3 – I love holding babies and playing with children.
4 – I love reading a good book every night at bedtime.
5 – I love cooking for my family and friends.
6 – I love watching a classic movie – made in the 1940’s or 1950’s – with a happy ending.
7 – I love reconnecting with my high school and college friends.
8 – I love thinking about my childhood and all the lessons I learned during those years.
9 – I love praying for people who reach out to me with their prayer requests.
10 – I love decorating for Christmas.
11 – I love teaching the Word of God.
12 – I love going to the beach.
13 – I love having girlfriends who are really more like sisters.
14 – I love looking for the ordinary miracles in life.
15 – I love a good devotional book that directs my heart toward God.
16 – I love celebrating people … whether it is their birthday or not.
17 – I love being with my 5 children on any day of the year.
18 – I love the changing colors of the leaves in the fall.
19 – I love fresh, clean sheets on my bed.
20 – I love holding my husband’s hand.
21 – I love hearing the laughter of children.
22 – I love going to church and singing the songs of faith that thousands of sung before me.
23 – I love driving through the mountains and gasping at the creative genius of God.
24 – I love dreaming new dreams and setting new goals.
25 – I love children’s books.
26 – I love studying the Bible.
27 – I love Mobile, Alabama.
28 – I love making crafts with my granddaughters.
29 – I love playing H.O.R.S.E. with my grandsons.
30 – I love making the recipes that have been passed down in my family for generations.
31 – I love choral music.
32 – I love writing books.
33 – I love planting flowers in the spring and tending them all summer long.
34 – I love my worship playlist.
35 – I love hot summer weather … the hotter the better for this girl!
36 – I love hearing people’s stories.
37 – I love getting on my knees and praying with my hands lifted in the air.
38 – I love a good cry.
39 – I love a beautiful sunset flaming in the Western sky.
40 – I love Buffalo, NY.
41 – I love watching college basketball.
42 – I love listening for God’s voice.
43 – I love playing the piano.
44 – I love raspberry pie.
45 – I love the 4th of July … complete with hotdogs, watermelon and fireworks!
46 – I love buying a new journal on January 1 every year.
47 – I love the first snowfall of the winter.
48 – I love the Carpenters’ Christmas CD’s.
49 – I love the state of North Carolina.
50 – I love going out for breakfast.
51 – I love reading quotes and writing them in my journal.
52 – I love Gershwin.
53 – I love a good laugh.
54 – I love being an alumna of Oral Roberts University.
55 – I love drinking piping hot tea out of my grandmother’s flowered teacups.
56 – I love buying Christmas presents.
57 – I love Israel.
58 – I love mining for gold on the sacred pages of scripture.
59 – I love Edmond, Oklahoma.
60 – I love reading historical fiction … especially about World War II.
61 – I love being a Marmee.
62 – I love traveling and making new friends.
63 – I love drinking unsweetened iced tea with lemon on a hot summer day.
64 – I love Chopin … especially his waltzes.
65 – I love Hawaii … I’ve never been there but I just know if I ever get to visit I will absolutely love it!
66 – I love anything that tastes like pumpkin.
67 – I love a sparkling, clean kitchen.
68 – I love juicy peaches that drip down your chin when you eat them.
69 – I love the Lord and the life He has given to me.
So there you have it … 69 of my very favorite things!
The amazing thing is … while writing this precious list … I realized that I could easily come up with 69 more things that I love dearly.
Life is heartachingly wonderful … and unbelievably short, my friends. Live it well.
Live every day at full throttle … passionately investing yourself in the people, the events, and the plans that God has just for you.
“I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Etienne de Grellet, Quaker Missionary
We only get to live each day one miraculous time … so roll up your sleeves … open your heart … and dance joyfully into this day.
Out-sing your pain … and whistle while you work.
Smile at the future … knowing that God is already there.
Happy Birthday to me … and to all of you! I love being your friend … your encourager … your coach … your sister … and your voice of faith!
Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!
