Mr. Fantastic looked at me last night and asked if I had enjoyed my birthday.
A slow smile crept across my face and I nodded.
“Birthdays are funny things. There is one day of love, just for you, all year. I sometimes wonder if I am able to digest all the love and friendship on this one day. I don’t want any of it to go to waste,” I told him.
I am like the woman at the well, meeting with Love Himself. I don’t always fully understand who I am talking to, but I want to believe the hope of the world is right in front of me.
And it is.
Life is a mixture of what we see and what we can only know by faith. The seeing can mar the believing if we let it, and the believing can change what we see forever.
I have met a God who sees me. He has told me everything I ever did. I can’t hide myself from a God like that. I don’t want to.
He loved me and sought me before my life drew even a drop of water to refresh Him.
He sacrificed Himself for me before I breathed my first breath, spoke my first word, or said my first prayer.
I have met Messiah.
His love and goodness is all around me these days, in cards from friends, in the laughter of my children, in a cozy cup of tea, in the kindness of my family, in the quiet of the morning, and in the deep gaze of my husband’s blue eyes.
That same love and goodness are also in the confusing future, in the pain of my mistakes, in misunderstandings with friends, in the tiring work of raising children, in the goodbyes that break my heart, and in the new mountains I am meant to climb.
His love for me is not tied on a leash to one birthday each year, or so shallow that it lives only in warm fuzzies and happy moments.
No, He never leaves me, His love banishes my fears, His gentleness eases my pain, and His promises light my path.
This is what it means to never be thirsty again. Every pang is quenched by His love for me, every desire met in His goodness, and every need drowns in His greatness.
I had a lovely birthday. Thank you to everyone who showed me more of God’s love yesterday.
I am blessed to call you my friends.
