With the birthday of my oldest child coming up in July, thirty-three years is the illusion of the blink of an eye. From her very first birthday until she left our home to be married, we celebrated her birthdays and her brother’s birthdays like they were national holidays! And in my opinion, they should have been.

I still can not believe how blessed I am to have children and grandchildren. You know, children do not ask to be born, we make that decision. And the responsibility of loving and raising children, takes on a whole new element of accountability for the parent. At least it should.

I think birthdays are great milestones in our lives and the lives of people we love. God has blessed us with another 365 days to be on this earth. He may not give us the next 365.

So, I wanted my children to know how much their birth and another year of being together meant to me. When they woke up on their “day,” our kitchen and eat-in area, and sometimes other areas of the house, were decorated with banners, streamers, balloon, hats etc. In the younger years, we tried to make the parties special events to share with family and friends.

But the Pièce De Résistance, was their cake! It usually had something to do with their interests at the time. My oldest had lost her tooth one year, so I found a cake maker who put her picture on it with her tooth-missing smile! And then there were the HeMan and Yugioh cakes that the boys had for their day.

Yes, everything represented them and what they enjoyed doing. And when it was time to light the candles and sing “Happy Birthday!” Oh, boy did I sing!

I sang loud, proud, and very, very off-key. For I can not sing. God gave me the creative gift to write and dance, but not to sing.  My toe shoes were my instrument, like a guitar is the instrument of a musician. Well, that did not matter to me, I wanted God and the angels to know how thankful I was for my child!

For the bible says to make a joyful noise to the Lord. It does not say, “only if you can do it perfectly and on key.”  Even though we are all broken and imperfect,  God wants to know that we are happy and full of love. So, I am sure He forgives those of us who praise Him in a not so perfect tone!

Now that my children have grown, my praise for them having another birthday is found within my daily prayers. On their special day, my prayers are a little longer as I list how grateful I am for them and their accomplishments in life. And I still sing, “Happy Birthday” loud and proud, deep within my heart!

I want God and the Angels to know I am thankful here on earth until I can tell them face to face!