birthday cakeToday is my birthday. I am now 33 years old. One of the members at my church replied when I told her, “Oh, the same age as Jesus.” Well… Jesus was 33 when he was crucified… ouch. But it was only three days later when he was resurrected! So I guess things can’t be all bad. :-)
Actually, things aren’t bad at all. Is there pressure? Sure. Am I a little stressed out? Yeah. Could I use a little more money? How about a lot more? A new car would be nice and to finally pay off my student loans… But things aren’t bad because I am reminded that God is with me. So that means everyday that I wake up and see the morning and can get out of bed and can move and think and eat and so on… is a GOOD DAY!

I can remember when I was about to turn 30. I asked my wife if I could have a party. (I never really had parties for my birthday when I was growing up.) Her response was… “A party? You haven’t done enough to warrent a party!” Now I know that sounds brutal - and it was - but it was truthful. And I love my wife for her honesty and calling things how she sees them! When I honestly thought about my life I came to the same conclusion - “She’s right. I haven’t done enough to warrent a party.”

Now I know some of you just love throwing parties for a million different reasons. What about one just to celebrate that I am alive and made it to another year? But this goes deeper than that. My wife will surprise me in a minute. When it comes to giving gifts and seeing me happy, she is not selfish at all. (That’s a terrible mirror to look into since I can get pretty selfish. :-)

But there were things that I declared I would do… and years had passed without me completing them. I would start various projects and would finish some, but not most. One of those projects was my book, Transition: Breaking Through the Barriers. It should have been finished by the time I was 30, but I was procrastinating. In many things I was often procrastinating. In many ways I was still living in fear - afraid to step out of my comfort zone and go into the unknown. I would often get great ideas, but then wouldn’t act. Sometimes I would complain about what I couldn’t do and my wife would tell me about people who had less than me DOING MORE that me.

So yes… I hadn’t done enough to prepare for an all out birthday party.

Now it’s three years later and I still have not had a party. My wife smiles and lets me know every now and then… “You’re getting closer.” And I’m excited…. not just because a party may be lurking around the corner of 35 or 40, but because my life is becoming more and more focused. My book has been published for a year already and has begun to make an impact in many lives. My relationship with God continues to increase. Ideas that I have are becoming plans and I’m that much closer to experiencing the reality of many of my dreams. And my relationship with my wife continues to grow and mature. (We just celebrated 7 years at the beginning of July.)

Why do I share all of this with you? How else do we all grow if we do not share our experiences?

As your birthday fast approaches I want you to think about this question: “Have I done enough to warrant me having a birthday party?”  Then be honest with your answer and plan accordingly.
I’ll be asking doing the same as well.

Let me know what you think.

-Allen Paul Weaver III-