My birthday was a few days ago.

It is funny. When I was a child, I longed for my birthdays to come. I would receive gifts, for one thing; but more importantly, I would be “catching up” to my older brother. It meant I was that much closer to the things you could do when you were older: Grow, go to camp, drive a car, move away from home, get married, have a family of my own…

As I got older, I didn’t long for my birthdays at all. It only meant that I was getting that much older! I didn’t need any reminders beyond the fact that I needed more sleep than before, my body ached after only a little exertion, and I had to pay more attention to what I ate so as to not continue to “grow”, only in the wrong places! Since they seemed to come around once a year, whether I wanted them to or not, I decided to focus on the “good” aspects of a birthday: The party, the gifts, the cake. Sure, it all meant I was getting another year older, but it also meant that there were people who cared enough about me to make me feel special!

I will never forget my 40th birthday. I wasn’t looking forward to this milestone, and I certainly didn’t want to celebrate it with anyone outside my family. At that stage in our lives, we would, as a family, go to a local park for a “concert in the park” every Sunday evening. This particular Sunday, just prior to my birthday, my wife suggested we go early so that the kids could “play at the splash pad”. It was a very hot day, and I didn’t find anything unusual in her suggestion. Imagine my shock when we arrived at the park, and as we passed one of the pavilions, people I knew started popping out and shouting “surprise”! I looked over at my wife with my mouth hanging open, and I knew from the look on her face that she was the reason all my friends were under that pavilion! My first thought was to retreat to the car; but I couldn’t do that. Besides, it kind of felt good that all these people cared enough to come out, some from as far away as 100 km, to celebrate my 40th birthday!

To be perfectly honest, I believe I had a love/hate relationship with my birthday. I hated what it meant, but I loved the affection that was shown to me whenever it arrived. In fact, I probably would have to say that if no one had ever paid attention to my birthday, I would probably have felt a tiny bit hurt…

Unfortunately for me, too many birthdays passed and dementia caught up to me. Gone was the “hate” part of the birthday relationship. Suddenly it was just really, really nice that people paid attention to me, despite my dementia!

Then came my birthday last year. I will admit that I didn’t even realize any more what a birthday was, and when my wife wanted to buy me ice cream for my birthday, I couldn’t remember from one moment to the next that the ice cream was to celebrate my birthday … even though my wife repeatedly told me it was… Instead, I just kept thinking about how good the ice cram was and how thankful I was that God created ice cream!

I learned something last year… Instead of desiring things that draw attention to ourselves on these special days, wouldn’t the day be better spent by thanking God for each and every blessing of the passed year? By praising Him in advance for how He will protect us and carry us through the upcoming year? By being grateful to God for giving us family and friends who care about us? By appreciating all the gifts of life, of love, of family, of beautiful days, of good sleep and good jobs and good health, all the gifts God gives us on a daily basis?

Hey! Maybe the purpose of a birthday should be to celebrate God in our lives over the past year! The Bible does, after all, tell us, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:18 NIV)! Even in the bad times, we are encouraged to not only give our problems to God, but to do so with thanksgiving: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil. 4:6 NIV)!

Yes, I think I will use my birthday next year to spend time thanking God that He has given me another birthday…

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries