It’s My Birthday!

I have always loved celebrating my birthday (who doesn’t?) but since beating cancer, birthdays now have an added layer of meaning. The fact that I am blessed with another year of life is definitely something worth celebrating!

It means another day that might not have been. It means another day to laugh and another day to hug those I love. Another day to throw the frisbee with my dog, to spend too much time at Hobby Lobby, and to eat too many Mickey-shaped waffles. Another day to bring the light of Jesus to someone who needs Him.

Tomorrow is never promised, but in the stresses of our everyday life, we often forget about that. One of the gifts cancer has left me with is a gratitude for life; the understanding of just how fragile that life is and just how short our time on earth is. How one day you can feel totally normal in the prime of your life, and one phone call can suddenly shatter everything you held dear.

The fragility of each 24-hour window is not lost on me. Even the windows that I have to refer to as “bad cancer days”, I’m still here and I’ll still attempt to live every day I have left to the fullest. I will laugh, I will love, and I will carry out the reason for which I’m still here. God’s not done with me yet, and each birthday is a milestone and reminder of that truth.

It sure is good to be 29 again.