40 Years ... and counting

I am celebrating my 40th birthday!

It is almost 2AM. But, the celebration actually started on Thursday when my siblings threw me a surprise birthday party – my first ever! Everything was purple and black – it was beautiful!

Black is my favorite color and purple – well I like to think that it speaks to the regal lineage I was adopted into when I accepted Christ. It is also reflective of the fact that I was named after a queen – a warrior queen. My name also means 'Father's Ornament', like a beautiful amethyst set in a crown.

My two sisters – who went shopping at different stores, at different times managed to get me the exact same card ... It was wonderful!!!!!

Right now, I am sitting here in my living room, praising and praying and thanking God – thanking God that He is in my life, thanking Him that He has kept me all this time. His love makes everything worth it!

I can hardly believe that it has been forty years. It has gone so quickly. Yet I have no regrets or fears of getting old. I’ve been forty since I was fifteen … always had an ‘old soul’ as a teenager. Now it just feels like everything ‘fits’. I can’t really explain it in words – which is really rare for me since I am a 'word-girl'.

I marvel at the fact that I have two adult sons – one is eighteen and the other will be twenty in two weeks. And I can’t forget my youngest son who is almost a man himself at sixteen. My aunt once told me, 'There is a special place in heaven for a mother of three sons'. She likely said it because she has three sons herself. But, it is a special privilege. God has blessed me with the opportunity to pour into their lives, to raise godly young men who will be godly husbands and fathers one day.

As teenagers, my three sons have seen more of the world then I had seen when I was their age. A couple of years ago, the two eldest traveled through Europe as Student Ambassadors. Between them, they traveled to eleven countries. They were able to see places that I have only dreamed of visiting. But God has allowed me to go to many of those places through the internet. Through this blog, He has given me the opportunity to reach people across the globe with the hope of His gospel.

I love that – at forty – I am truly doing what I love to do! I am reaching out to and encouraging God’s people – all of His people. I speak to those who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior AND to those who have yet to make that choice. We are all His. He made each and every one of us with care and love. Jesus gave His life so that each one of us could be reconciled to the Father. For many of the last forty years, He has allowed me to carry that message of grace and hope and love - to benefit from it. I am thankful for that!

I am thankful for and excited about what lies ahead! I will continue to pour into my children’s lives – as long as they permit me. I am thrilled about this site and will continue to reach out to anyone who visits this blog – three new countries this week! I am excited about the book being released this year and I am praying that His anointing will go with every copy, directing it into the right hands and giving the reader the strength to keep pushing forward through the storms of life. I eagerly pursue and anticipate the complete manifestation of everything that God has placed on my heart.

Happy Birthday to Me!
The Party Does Indeed Continue …Praise God!