The thing about birthdays is...

they're supposed to be all about you. I know...this isn't a letter, BUT I wish to share with the internet everything that has been going on through my head on this special day, (therefore, you may stop reading if you do not care). I have officially lived for two decades. Exciting? YES! But before I get too into that, I wish to start out with significant events that the Holy Spirit has used to transform my thinking.
I have been incredibly blessed beyond measure with true friends who love me by the grace of God. Recently, I have expressed to a friend that I was struggling with learning how to be humble. To help me with this, yesterday, we decided to go through Romans 12 together and discuss humility as a mark of a true Christian. It was a beautiful time of true fellowship among sisters, but sometimes, truths honestly do not click until later, you know? One can talk about the amazing grace of God and understand it, but to really be in AWE of it...that is a different story.

Does anyone else out there ever feel led to do something specific at a certain time? I know I have felt this, and I also know that that is the Holy Spirit, (if it is an action that acts against sin). To add to the amazing-ness of yesterday, that evening I felt like I really should continue reading Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. What a wonderful blessing that ended up being! I read what Mahaney had to say about pride and the cross and exposing the grace of God in our lives...and it flooded my mind with questions of whether or not the cross has made a great difference in my daily thinking this week. With my birthday being a few hours away, I had no longer wished for it to come so soon! Earlier at dinner, I had comically explained to a friend that my birthday was going to be all about me, and that I will do whatever-the-heck I want to do! The sad part is, I was only partially kidding at the time. As a follower of Jesus Christ, my life is no longer about me, so why should I be SO excited about a day dedicated to me? This is when I started to think of how I can keep my mind focused on the savior instead of the sinner.

Now that I given you the context, I am ready to share the happenings of today! Funny thing is, the things that encouraged me the most came from some good friends once more! Gifts are wonderful on your birthday; it's another reason to praise God for His grace, don't get me wrong on that, but spiritual encouragement on your birthday...that's the best! I have received birthday messages all day long, but a few have been circling through my mind all day. Both of them have brought me back to the glory of the Lord. The Lord created me on this day twenty years ago to do His work and to give Him glory. I have come to realize that I need to be celebrating the Lord and praising Him for that grace on this day that the world says is supposed to be about me. Trying to fathom that this morning was so difficult! Therefore, to make my birthday even more awesome than it already has been, I decided to go off on a hike and just have that intimate time with God, and leave my thoughts to Him.

If you ever have problems finding a reason to praise God, just go outside. I honestly do not understand why some people hate being outside. You are surrounded by God's glorious creations when you are outside, how can you not like that? Today, the winds raced through the canyon walls. Normally, I do not appreciate wind, but when I'm outdoors ready to meditate on life...I love it. I could hear it howling, causing the leaves to dance. I can feel it push my hair back, and chill me as I move faster; and that's just the beauty of wind! God made so many incredible animals too...I could hear the birds calling out to each other and the crickets peacefully chirp and the woodpeckers tap away at the trees. I saw how the bobcat gracefully ran across the trail and into the bush. The rock formations, the bright green grass, the blue sky and the sun that warmed my face; I was in complete awe. God made man out of the dirt my boots stomped on. Meditating on God as the creator of the universe humbled me more than anything today. Everything I saw and heard and felt today in the canyon was a grace gift from God. If I were to die today or if Christ were to come back my heart would be found content in the beauty of my Creator and the grace of my Savior. These lyrics rang through my mind as I hiked back to my car today:


I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior's love for me!



Maranatha Lord Jesus, thank you for revealing these truths to me on this special day! :)))