Today is my birthday and I wanted to take a moment to say how thankful I am to see another birthday. The older I get the more I value each day, especially a birthday. The fact that I am still here means that God has kept me and that my work on earth is not complete. Age brings about a new understanding of how precious life is and the awesome gift of another day.
Now, I could tell you that life is perfect and I have no issues. Although that would sound nice, it would not be true. Even at my age, which I will not share on this blog, I still struggle with some of the challenges that life presents. There are things that happen in my life that cause me to feel rejection, pain, heartaches, and disappointments. I still have a desire to achieve things in life. I yet yearn to go places I have not been. I even experience regrets for past mistakes and wrong decisions that I have made over the years.
See, that is one of the things that growing older will do, aging will make you take a long hard look at your life. As you look at life, where you are and where you have been, sometimes we do not like what we see. The wise person who does not like what they see will work to make the necessary changes. But the foolish person will look, identify, and even verbalize the error of their ways and continue walking in the dark.
So my gift to myself today is to identify things in my life that do not please God, do not line up with my purpose, and do not enhance my growth. Once I recognize those areas that need work, I will start today moving toward becoming a better me.
As your gift to me, I encourage you to reflect on life and how you can live the life God meant for you to live and begin working toward that goal. You really are the “apple of His eye.” Be the person you were created to be. Christ died that each of us may be free, let’s walk in that liberty. Make a bold declaration today that “I am who God says I am and anything that holds me back from fulfilling my destiny has to GO!”
Happy Birthday to me, and let’s give thanks for a new day with new opportunities to improve ourselves. I am thankful for new mercies afforded me today. I am thankful for a God who forgives and loves me even when I do not deserve it. I am thankful for my family and my friends. I am even thankful for those whose actions have initiated a self-evaluation of my motive and as a result caused me to seek God more. I am thankful for all that God has given me in this life. And I am thankful that you are reading my blog post.
Dr. Evelyn Johnson-Taylor
Scripture Reference:
http://biblehub.com/psalms/17-8.htm
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lamentations+3%3A22-23&version=NIV