Thirty Nine

There were Thirty-Nine Steps.  Even Grover got in on that action (props to my true Sesame Street fans).



There were Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion.

And then there were 39 years.

Yesterday was my birthday.

I'm not a fan of birthdays and Mondays coinciding.

It wasn't a terrible day.  But it also wasn't awesome.

But then I decided to make it awesome.

I was feeling kinda blah - I've never been one to feel like I've been hit hard by age.  But something about entering the final year of my thirties took a toll on my psyche.

And then we had to take Zach to the doctor.

When I checked on him Sunday night, I thought he had a fever.  I was pretty certain of it.  But no sign of being sick.  But when he got up Monday morning, I could clearly see that the bit of scrape left on his arm from a fall the week before... was significantly worse.  It went from a scab to a scab surrounded by raised white bumps of pus.  And the redness.  Paired with the fever - we knew we had to call the doctor.

So off to the doctor we went.  And it is infected.  And we have to be cautious to make sure this skin infection doesn't infect the elbow joint because then it will be harder to fight.  And they took a culture and wrapped his little tiny arm in gauze.  And my celebratory heart just wasn't in it.

Jeff took him home and I went back to work.

And I checked Facebook.

I am so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life.  So in my real, everyday life.  Some in my church life.  Some in my work life.  Some I call family, some I call friends.  And the birthday wishes were just evidence of the love in my life.

I like to acknowledge every birthday greeting.  But I wanted to do more.  So for every birthday greeting, I thanked the person.  But then also took a second to pray.

"Father, fill ______ with joy."

Fill Ashlea with joy.

Fill Jennifer with joy.

Fill Kat with joy.

Fill Jim with joy.

Fill Christy with joy.

Fill Daniel with joy.

Fill Amanda with joy.

And you know what happened by the end of the day?

I was also filled with joy.  Yes, I was still tired and stressed and worried about my little boy.  But I was also fully aware of how blessed I am and how lucky I am and how fortunate I am.

So I guess 39 isn't really so hard afterall.  Yesterday, I proved that my life is abundant in blessings and joy.  In 39 years, the first 20 or so wracked with hardships and chaos, I've managed to come to a point where I know...

Peace.

Joy.

Fulfillment.

Happiness.

Love.

Friendship.

I don't have it all figured out.  I'm not perfect by a long shot.  But at 39 years old... I can certainly say that I've come a long way.