On March 1, 2011 I celebrated my 40th birthday with little fanfare. The day started in one of the best possible ways; my six year old son, Isaiah, came into our bedroom before I had even gotten out of bed and gave me a big hug and kiss and said with a smile, "Happy Birthday Daddy!". It really does not get any better than that!
Forty years! There are times when I wonder what I have really done in my life; where has the time gone? As I look back and see the places I have been and the people that I have had contact with, I realize that I have truly been blessed in this life.
I hope that in the next 40 years, if God blesses me with that many, I can be a blessing to those around me. I have often heard that life goes down hill once you pass 40, but I can not see it being that way. It is only now that life begins. You have lived life and know more about what you can and can not do in life. You understand how to go about things in a way that you did not comprehend five, ten or twenty years ago. The advice you give now comes with experience to demonstrate what you are saying.
I pray that each of you who come to this point in your life journey would be able to see how life is a blessing from God our Creator. I hope that we can all give back to Him and to those around us just a little of the blessings that we have received.
John 15:12-14 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you." (NRSV) Can we follow the commands of Christ? Lets try.
