Its 12:06am, April 10th, the birthday icon on my ICQ has disappeared and I think the happy birthday messages will stop streaming in =p
I was wondering what's so special about today, I am sure if my icq info didn't have the little birthday cake, many would forget the significance of April the 9th. But I know leastone person who will never forget this day 24 years ago, my mom.
Last night my mom started recounting the pain,scratches and wounds she had to endure to give both to this 8.2lb baby that the doctor called "chubby legs." I think the harder part was providing for me for the past 24 years. She has made many sacrifice for our family, the deep pain and countless sorrows yet she is happy and grateful.
And I read and watch the news about war and sickness, I am reminded that each person has parents who loved them. I know it sounds very cliche but it really hit home for me when I experienced the death of a close relative. The emptiness when someone you love is no around, their voice no longer heard, no more familiar greetings of happy birthday. Really challenges me to see each person as "fearfully and wonderfully made by God" (psalms 139:14)
I'm 24 and I know need to start growing up, but its comforting to know that I can always return home and be taken care of =)
This morning, I read Psalms 117:24, "This is the day that the Lord has made, We will rejoice and be glad in it." I've sung this song many times as a kid, but never knew where it was from the bible. yes another reminder about gratitude and more from the book I am reading by Henri Nouwen:
Gratitude goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and clains the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts recieved, but now i realize that gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occaisions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. I can choose to be grateful when I am criticizzed, when when my heart is steeped in bitterness. I can choose to speak about goodness and beauty, even when my inner eye still looks for someone to accuse or something to call ugly. There is always a choice between resentment and gratitude because GOd has appeared in my darkness, urged me to come home, and declared in a voice filled with affection: You are with me always, and all I have is yours.
Things I am thankful for today:
- God creating me!!
- family
- Gabe
- Uncle Ascot, Auntie Danny and Vida - you guys have helped our family tons! and good chocolate cake
- done prostho!
- friends to celebrate with
Verse(s) of the day:
- Psalms 117:24, "This is the day that the Lord has made, We will rejoice and be glad in it."
-For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Psalms 139: 14-15
I was wondering what's so special about today, I am sure if my icq info didn't have the little birthday cake, many would forget the significance of April the 9th. But I know leastone person who will never forget this day 24 years ago, my mom.
Last night my mom started recounting the pain,scratches and wounds she had to endure to give both to this 8.2lb baby that the doctor called "chubby legs." I think the harder part was providing for me for the past 24 years. She has made many sacrifice for our family, the deep pain and countless sorrows yet she is happy and grateful.
And I read and watch the news about war and sickness, I am reminded that each person has parents who loved them. I know it sounds very cliche but it really hit home for me when I experienced the death of a close relative. The emptiness when someone you love is no around, their voice no longer heard, no more familiar greetings of happy birthday. Really challenges me to see each person as "fearfully and wonderfully made by God" (psalms 139:14)
I'm 24 and I know need to start growing up, but its comforting to know that I can always return home and be taken care of =)
This morning, I read Psalms 117:24, "This is the day that the Lord has made, We will rejoice and be glad in it." I've sung this song many times as a kid, but never knew where it was from the bible. yes another reminder about gratitude and more from the book I am reading by Henri Nouwen:
Gratitude goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and clains the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts recieved, but now i realize that gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occaisions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. I can choose to be grateful when I am criticizzed, when when my heart is steeped in bitterness. I can choose to speak about goodness and beauty, even when my inner eye still looks for someone to accuse or something to call ugly. There is always a choice between resentment and gratitude because GOd has appeared in my darkness, urged me to come home, and declared in a voice filled with affection: You are with me always, and all I have is yours.
Things I am thankful for today:
- God creating me!!
- family
- Gabe
- Uncle Ascot, Auntie Danny and Vida - you guys have helped our family tons! and good chocolate cake
- done prostho!
- friends to celebrate with
Verse(s) of the day:
- Psalms 117:24, "This is the day that the Lord has made, We will rejoice and be glad in it."
-For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Psalms 139: 14-15
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