Birthday Love

It's not even 10am, but it's already been a fabulous day!  It's the day we celebrate my birth--42 years ago.  And I have a secret to tell...even though I don't always act like it, I REALLY like gifts.  In fact, it's really embarrassing how much I like them.

And I got a great one from my family this morning--a charm bracelet I've wanted for years.  I can't wait to get my first charms on it and start adding to the collection.  Charm bracelets tell stories and if you know me at all, you know I have this deep love for stories!

But, the charm bracelet wasn't my favorite gift. While it's a pretty hard one to beat, I realized how much more I loved the words/non-words I received from my favorite Royal people.

Caroline wrote me this note:

I know it's hard to read (surely I don't need to remind you of my lack of good picture-taking skills), but I am the shell to her turtle.  And for those of you who don't know, turtles are her most favorite thing in the world.  And her hands were covered in marker afterward--be still my heart!




After a rough start to the morning that began with tears (those of you with pre-teens who don't like to get out of bed in the morning will totally understand), my Hope, who never posts selfies with me, posted this on her Instagram:

And if that weren't enough to have me in puddles, my hubby, who hates making lunches and only does it when I'm stressed and running really late, got out of bed before me and helped the girls to make theirs so I didn't have to.  No pics on this one because he doesn't like me to make a big deal out of the little things like this he does and snapping a pic would have ruined the moment. 

And, not to be left out, my sweet friends who I ADORE working with, snuck in to Tin Star earlier this week and decorated "our" table before I got there.

And yes--that is my favorite flower--beautiful hydrangeas!!!

Throughout the morning, my phone has also been blowing up with facebook messages.

Words bring life. 

In the past couple of years, I've not made it a priority to tell those I love "happy bday" and celebrate/mourn with them as intentionally as I have in the past.  I've got lots of great excuses that I tell myself when I feel that Holy Spirit twinge to reach out:

• I'm too busy
• They won't even notice if I don't say anything--everybody else will cover me
• But what happens if I do it this time and forget the next time--will they read into it
• What if I didn't say anything on their best friend's birthday--won't that friend feel left out?

It's crazy!!  And yes, that's just a snippet into my narcissistic mind--scary, huh?

Anyway, my socks have been blessed off and it reminds me that when kindness is shown to you, it makes you want to show it to others. 

So, it's time for some intentional and spontaneous life-giving words to start coming out of my mouth...