Celebrations

Life tends to speed by. Hours turn to years in a nano second. One day you are dreaming of the future and the next you are trying to remember the past. Sounds very deep but the truth is that we are never able to predict what will be great or what will fail. What we do know is that we have today, the right here and now. And that is a gift, a present. We must be thankful for this moment and celebrate.

Today it is a birthday, but in all actuality it is a family, a lifetime. What would we be doing if? What would be different if? How, where, when, who and what would I be thinking about at this exact moment if even ONE thing had been different? When you sit around your table, your office, your church, who would be there, who would you know, what would you be doing?

That is a lot to think about. So I go back to a little girl who grew up moving all over and one day landed in the frozen tundra. Ok it was South Dakota but the last year I was there it was the Antarctica! So I packed the Omni and drove as far south as I could. Warm, sunny, new life.

And the journey in my new state began. I met many people at work and shared living space with dear friends, enjoyed life and the adventures that came with their beautiful children. I never would have inherited the love and joys of my nieces and nephew had that move from winter not occurred. They are a great gift.

Through work I found some great motivation and went to school, over and over again. All of that led to a fantastic job surrounded by some of the most amazing leaders and educators in health care. Having been in health care in some capacity for more than 40 years I can say I am an expert in this. This has also permitted me to do things I love as I grow, share, mentor. What a great gift.

Then there is church. I visited a couple that, well, quite frankly terrified me. One we actually bolted from as soon as they unlocked the doors at the end of the service. That is not an exaggeration. But I landed in a great church, met wonderful friends and continued to discover the who and what I should be. I was even able to go to the land of my dreams, India, on a mission with an amazing teacher and friend. I consider the folks I met as friends. Even though it has been a long time ago it feels like yesterday. The memory of that trip continues to impact my life and my global view.

In the midst of greatness comes tragedy sometimes, and that was what it felt like to have a church crisis. In the process I felt I needed to move on. I felt a bit lost, but a couple of churches later I would land in a gym in a school. Small church, great teacher, and a handsome man walking through the rows of chairs. I confess, I admired him from afar for a bit but when we moved into our current church building we met, and the rest as they say, is history!

A few brownies, Christmas caroling night and one long, long phone call later we were a thing. And just 4 more weeks we were engaged. Who knew that all of those moves, changes, difficult things would lead to a 26 year marriage? I am certain only God. And so here we are, this picture of happiness, on his birthday. We have had serious heartache, loss, joy and adventure to get to this day. We would not have imagined this life on our wedding day let alone when we were kids.

We would not have thought some of the things we endured would be necessary, bearable or beneficial. But indeed, it has all been necessary for today's story. If even ONE thing had been different we may not have met. If even ONE thing was different we may not have had our son. If even ONE thing had been different we may not have found the doctors or teachers or support to help our family. If even ONE thing was different we may not be alive! ONE thing!

So for this moment, today, we celebrate a birthday. But we also celebrate a lifetime of choices, circumstances, surprises, adventures, accidents, mistakes, heartaches, joys and more that gave us the gift of today. Happy Birthday to my husband, friend, encourager, and devoted father to our beautiful son. Grateful you were sent into the world on a collision course with me. Here's to the next grand surprise.