the birthday

I am thankful. I am content.


As I have taken moments here and there throughout the day to reflect, those are my two overwhelming thoughts. I am thankful. I am content.


The first thought is definitely not hard for me to articulate. I find myself thankful everyday for the gift of a new day, for the family and friends I have in my life, for the calling God has placed on my life, for my health…the list goes on and on. So, today is no different. I’m just extra aware. Thanks to everyone who has wished me well today. It’s been fun to hear from many of you. I love each of you for the very special part you play or have played throughout my 35 years. Yes, that’s right, 35…I have hit the next bracket on questionnaires…I actually had to fill one out at the hospital today, and I had a sobering reality check when I clicked on the radial button marked “35-40.” EEEK!


Now the second thought is not something I am ready to articulate everyday. I would really like to say that I am content all the time, but the truth is that I often find myself not fully satisfied with my “possessions, status or situation” (that is the straight up definition from Webster in case you were wondering). I often want more. I want a new outfit and a new car and a new GPS. I want to be ordained without going through the next several months of requirements. I want to be a loving spouse and a mother. Heck, I just want someone to ask me out on a date! Yep, I just said that...I'm all about speaking the truth!


HOWEVER, today I was ready to receive God’s abundant grace. Even though I still want all those things, I am ultimately satisfied deep within and the want does not consume me. As my eyes welled up with tears on my drive down I-10, and I REALLY thought about it, I am satisfied with my possessions, my status, and my situation…I am satisfied with the relationships that I have been blessed with, namely my relationship with the Lord. I know that the Lord is the only one who can satisfy the desires of my heart (Psalm 145), so it is in the Lord I will rest today and forever. This reality gives me a peace that surpasses my understanding, so yet again, I am thankful. May God continue to pour out this grace on all of us and may we all be ready to receive it, so that we have the strength to say with confidence each day, “I am thankful. I am content.”