39 and Holding?

Well, today is my 39th birthday. It has been a marvelous day.....my mom is still here (she heads back to Houston tomorrow) and she took me shopping for a pair of jeans and a bathing suit. Laura and Lindy got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa while we shopped. Kevin took me out to Olive Garden for dinner, along with his parents, my mom, and my cousin Ryan. We had a great time. I stuffed myself on the salad. I think I had like three helpings of it before my chicken parmesan (sp?) came out. It has been a happy, peaceful birthday. I must say that if you had told me last year on my birthday that to celebrate this year I'd be living in Nashville, with a new baby, and not working outside our home I would have laughed out loud! What a wonderful sense of humor God has.



I've been told that an attitude of gratitude goes a long way, so I'm going to list 39 things to be grateful for on my 39th birthday. These are not in any particular order:



The love of Jesus Christ, the gift of faith, ice cream from Marble Slab, our new Honda Odyssey, beautiful summer days, the renewal of springtime, living in a place where I get to see the seasons come and go, my precious husband Kevin, our big four year old Laura Annilee, our angel baby Melinda Grace, being part of the body of Christ, the hope of heaven, the grace of God, my grandparents Wayne and Annile Hemingway, that I am blessed with a family where everyone likes everyone else and we have a good time together, hydrangeas that are starting to come out, parents who love me and my little family, a God who can handle anything and more that I can imagine, God's precious grace, that I live in a country where we can worship the Lord without fear of persecution, our house, that we have food on the table and extra food in the fridge, that I have more clothes than I need, the gift of faithful friendship of so many people in so many places, the person for whom Lindy is named, Melinda Susan Smith, my mom's roast beef that melts in my mouth, God's wonderful redeeming grace, my mom, Beth Hemingway who has been here and done our laundry cooked our meals and helped tend to the girls for the past four weeks, disposable diapers, the gift of nursing my baby, chocolate pudding, did I mention God's great grace?, the slip and slide my mom got for Laura that bought hours of wonderful fun in our yard, the fact that I am living my dream of being a wife and mother, one year and counting of sobriety, that God gives us one day at a time to live, college football in the fall, the grace given freely by our precious Jesus.



I remember when I used to think people who were 39 were, bless their hearts, so old. It is amazing how our perspective can change as we grow up! I don't feel 39, whatever that is supposed to feel like, but I'm looking forward to living out this year and taking each day at a time. I pray for the grace to enjoy and appreciate my family and watching my children grow. I meant to have someone take a picture of our little party tonight at dinner, but I forgot (see as I get closer to 40 my memory is already slipping) so there isn't a picture tonight. May God give you rest tonight and a happy day tomorrow.