So as I sit here with my dad watching the Rose Parade and drinking coffee, I can't help but praise the Lord for His goodness. I am right where I want to be at this time every year. My 29th birthday was yesterday and, as my husband is well aware, it is very important for me to be at home in MN for my birthday. It is truly a blessing that I can count on one hand (it's really only been 1 maybe 2) how many times I've had to stay in OH over the last 10 years on my birthday.
We had such a fun time last night celebrating my birthday. Unfortunately, my brother's girls were both sick so they stayed home. However my sister-in-law made this terrific cake. It was her first bundt cake and she did great! In our family, the birthday person gets to pick their meal, cake, ice cream, etc. We don't really do gifts, the meal is the gift. We've had some meals in our time too! Well this year I planned my meal around this cake. I knew I wanted cinnamon ice cream with it and then thought long and hard about what meal would go well with the cake and ice cream. I finally decided on roast. It was so good! We did it a little Italian style with Italian seasoned stewed tomatoes and some garlic, basil and thyme along with the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. We also had this terrific garlic salad our family has been addicted to this week, blueberry cream muffins, and rhubarb muffins. My aunt made this wonderful raspberry salad as well. We had my aunt and her 7 kids, my cousin's fiance, and my great uncle all over to my parents house. We played XBOX games, Monopoly and Dance Praise 2. We love Dance Praise! Ralph and I picked it up for my aunt and cousins for Christmas and now my mom insists our family needs one. There is video to come--we just don't have the cords we need for our camera, but trust me we will load some! I don't really see birthdays as something to avoid. I think it has something to do with being a New Year's baby. It always seems to be a fresh start--a chance to evaluate the past year and look forward to the new. When I think back to the things God has brought me through, I don't really want to relive any of those things--I'm grateful for them in retrospect, but I want to move forward. Age is part of moving forward. It's also a challenge for me to retain my youthful enthusiasm and idealism and faith while balancing it with the wisdom, knowledge and experience the Lord has provided. As I head in to this new year both literally (2008) and next year of life, I have a few desires/goals. I want to become a mother, Lord willing, as I watch my siblings I definitely see that God's timing is best. I will wait on Him. I want to grow closer to Him this year and memorize more Scripture. I am committing to read the Bible chronologically this year with a group of women (and men) on-line. I want to honor the Lord with my body and take better care of His temple, my body. As I sign off for today, I pray "that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be ale to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:9-11)
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