A blessed year

One year ago today I decided that, for fun, I’d write a special post for Addie because it was her birthday. After I decided that’d be my topic for the day, I thought “how fun, I can do this for everyone’s birthday so they’ll feel special on their special day” – after all, I think birthdays are very important and should always be made into a big deal. I had no idea that by trying to make everyone else feel special, in turn, I was actually giving myself the best gift of all.

How unplanned but perfect it is that I end my year of writing celebration on my birthday! What a wonderful present to myself. I’ve spent the last year reminding my family and friends how fantastic they are, how special each one is and how unique our relationships are, and all I really did was find out how richly blessed I am. It felt like every time I turned around I was writing about another person; I had another birthday to acknowledge and reflect upon. Every time I wrote my goal and purpose was to enhance that person’s day and I hope that I did. But what happened by the end of each post was that I felt so lucky to have that person in my life.

I did forget a few birthdays, shamefully, and I hope to catch up on them in the year to come. Though I failed to celebrate Jodi, BB, Marty, Chelsea, Gene, and Nico I did not forget their birthdays – and I did reflect upon their impact in my life. You’ll read about that later for sure. Despite that, it was amazing to me how consumed I was in writing about the people I’m blessed with.

Like I’ve said a thousand times, God does things in such perfect and unseen ways sometimes. When I started my year of birthday blogging I didn’t know Austin was going to deploy, but God did. So God had me spend the first 8 months of our separation focusing on all of the people that he has strategically placed in my life. He reminded me, through my desire to shower people with love and compliments, of how much He loves me and how much He will take care of me. I may live alone, but I am far from being alone. And anytime I started to feel like maybe I was, there came another birthday to set me straight. I could have done my birthday blogging any year, or I could have passed over it completely, but God knew better. He knows my needs far better than I ever will, and anytime I think otherwise I am quickly reminded.

So – to close off my birthday blogging fun (besides the few stragglers who are not in any way stragglers in my life) and in honor of my 27th birthday, thank YOU to everyone who has brought me such joy. Thanks to my friends, my siblings, my parents…my family…for being what you are and helping me be what I am. I don’t know anyone in the world more blessed than me, and I’m very proud and thankful to say so.


- manda