Thirty One Candles

Today is my birthday... I kind of didn't want to celebrate today. I feel like once you hit a certain age, it's better to just forget, but unfortunately Facebook is sure to tell all your friends that you've successfully made it another year and you would love to be reminded of that fact. Okay that sounds a little harsh and I actually am really happy about all the well wishes. I usually go through the moments of reflection around the first of the year... you know New Year's Resolutions and all that rot, but today I am sitting here and needed to take a moment to reflect and count blessings. Today I got a surprise email from an old friend. It's been a few years since I've heard from him and it was a pretty exciting moment to open the old inbox and see a name I haven't seen in awhile. It was that email that started this whole reflection/remembering thing and I just want to add to what Chantal wrote about friends on her blog. Every once in a while, God puts us in a place that maybe we'd have found without Him or maybe not. Since I don't believe in coincidence, it's hard to say at what point God is directing our lives and at what point we would have gotten there alone, but that said, I really believe we are led to people by a loving Heavenly Father who knows that these people will help us get back to Him. It amazes me how often I come upon a friend who for one reason or another I can't imagine my life without. Also it amazes me how often a person affects me in ways I don't see until many years later. That is the moment I am in now. A few years ago, when we all used to hang out together, I'm not sure we imagined still touching each others lives years later, but even though these are people I see once every few years, if that, my life in enriched daily by knowing them, whether we are communicating with one another or not. I believe that Heavenly Father put us on this earth to be enriched while enriching, but sometimes I feel like I am playing the selfish role of being the enriched, without doing much enriching. All of you who have touched my life in known and unknown ways, Thank You. Someday I hope to return the favor and maybe when my cake has thirty-two candles I can be a little less selfish. Here's to selflessness... that's my birthday resolution.