Wishes

The time for another birthday has come! I love birthdays. I don’t dread them nor do I hear anything ticking. I am thankful for this..believe me 🙂 Maybe it’s because people still think I’m in my 20’s. I’m gonna ride that train for as long as I can…

I have had some awesome birthday parties over the past 30 years. Skating rinks, bowling, arcades, movies, all-nighters, karaoke, and these were just the parties in my 20s (kidding… kind of).

When I was really little, my birthday used to fall on our last big summer vacation before school started. My parents, sister, brother, and a big chunk of my aunts, uncles, and cousins would go down to the beach together. Can you picture  25+ children and adults hula-hooping around a hotel swimming pool at one time? Yes, I have evidence. Thank you VHS 🙂

I remember a little boy coming over to our outside table where my birthday party and cake were set up. He told me he had a present for me but he left it in his room. Uh huh…sure. We gave him cake…but the present never came. Don’t think I didn’t eye him down when I saw him again at the arcade area the next day. Come on, I was 5!

Birthdays are reminders of a life lived. Well or trying real hard, it’s full of grace and that is ok with me! Maybe the expectations we had as a child when we thought of what life would look like isn’t quite matching up to where God has us in our present reality. This can be a good thing too. I never would have guessed the amount of blessings and experiences I have had already at this point in my life!

As a child, every Sunday night at 7:00 pm the “Wonderful World of Disney” would come on with it’s newest movie. I loved it! The old song… “When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are…” was magical to me. I still think it is because I still believe in wishes and dreams. Except now, I have a much deeper relationship with the One who plants them into my heart.

Do you make wishes when you blow out your candles? I still do. Sometimes they come true, sometimes they dissolve, and sometimes they decide to hang around for awhile and circle back into the next year. What I have noticed though is that the wishing is ok. It’s good to dream! I love having things to look forward to. Remember when I told you I use to play a packing game with nowhere to go? To me, half the fun of trips is the planning, dreaming, and packing 🙂

So when I blow out my candles this year for the big 3-1, I’m still gonna make a wish. I’m still gonna dream about what the year can hold. Yes, there will be action on my part to take to get there and definitely God’s unyielding grace and direction. Sometimes I can just picture him laughing at some of my silly wishes, because quite frankly, they may be nothing compared to what He has in store. Isn’t He something?!

Whether the wishes come true or not, I just can’t wait to find out. Bring on the fire extinguisher cause it’s gonna be a big one!

p.s.- If you are a male presently around the age of 30 and were in Daytona, Florida in August of 1987…I’m still waiting for that present.

Taking it to Heart:

Do you still let yourself make wishes?

If not, what would the “little kid” you think of that?