Good morning…
On my 61st birthday, I wake to an empty home, two dogs, and one spring birthday doll. My husband is away in Nicaragua, checking out a possible location for his upcoming new adventure as travel director for Lovett Expeditions. One daughter is in a wedding in Nashville, Tennessee; the other daughter is visiting with college friends in Dallas, Texas. Our sons are in Athens, Georgia; one a graduating UGA senior, the other, newly married, is the director of a budding campus ministry. Might this be a first for me, waking alone on the day of my birth?
Alone time is a luscious luxury. Binge-watching recordings of American Idol in bed, while cutting out new images for our prayer card folders. Eating what I want to eat, when and where I want to eat it. Sleeping and waking at my leisure, any time of day or night.
In the quiet of this night, I pull out the Wordless Prayer Cards I created during our gathering this week. I lay out two together, snapping a photo.
I love the image of these three aging ladies. My soul playfully imagines their story. In my mind’s eye, the woman in the center is about 60. The woman to the right is about 80. The woman to the left is about 100. Each is knitting together the uniqueness of her individual life, flourishing from one life phase, to the next, to the next. All are listening attentively to the inner music of God, sitting cross-legged on the steps of their ordinary lives.
On my 61st birthday, I feel grateful to sit crosslegged on the steps of my own life, knitting uniqueness to the soundtrack of God.
For You shaped me, inside and out. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath. I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe. You have approached even the smallest details with excellence; Your works are wonderful. I carry this knowledge deep within my soul (Psalm 139:13-14, VOICE).
…Sue…
