Good Evening - what a wonderful day. It is my birthday weekend. My "suster" arrived yesterday with a bow on her head. She is the best birthday present. Today, we slept in, ate a bowl of oatmeal, bought plants, went to a movie, went out to eat, and got a pedicure. Then, we topped off the day with yogurt. She treated me the whole day.
After each event in our day, we would call our Muther and let her know everything we were doing so she could feel like she was part of our day. (Frank is out of town but will be back on Sunday to celebrate).
Many years ago when I was teaching school in Denver, Colorado, Suster spent the summer between her junior and senior of college with me. What memories we made.
We laughed, cried, got mad at each other, ate one meal a day that consisted of frozen vegetables and a hamburger patty, dug in our pockets for gas money, shared one car between us for two different jobs going in opposite directions and thought we were rich.
We fell in love with a particular country song by Don Williams, titled, "You're My Best Friend." It is probably the most concrete memory of that summer. Every time it came on the radio, we sang, harmonized, made up background words to the chorus and acted like we were the "Cha Na Nas" or something. To this day - some thirty years later, we will call each other every time we hear that song and sing it together.
This morning as we started our day, we backed out of the driveway - wonder why we call it a driveway when we pull in and park. We looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and grinned from ear to ear like two little girls about to get into the cookie jar - and affirmed what a wonderful day it was going to be.
At that moment, I said, "Lord, it would so cool if we could hear our Don Williams song today. It would make it a perfect day."
I've been on a redecorating kick updating our house the past few weeks and finished some bookshelves this evening. I fixed myself a glass of tea (on crushed ice - nothing like it). Suster had been helping, and we both sat down and heaved a tired sigh. I had completely forgotten about my request of the God of the universe Who by the work of His fingers set the moon and stars in place (Psalms 8:3).
He hadn't forgotten. At 11:55pm, as Suster and I were talking about our fun day, our Don Williams song came on the XM Radio station we were listening to. If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'. Isn't that priceless? Answering that request when the day was within minutes of being over reminded me of a testimony I heard someone give.
She said, "God is never late, but He sure has missed a lot of opportunities to be early." But really. Isn't that something? He does care about the smallest details of our lives. In I Peter 5:7 He tells me to cast everything that I care about at His feet, because He cares for me.
Someone once challenged me to insert my own name into verses as I was reading to make the Word of God more personal more personal to me.
Here's what that sounds like.
Psalms 37:4 Mecca, delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Mecca, commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
Lest you think I am trivializing the Word of God by using it for my own purposes, I want to assure you, sweet friend, that my request came straight from a full heart of gratitude. I didn't even realize how important it would be to me when He answered that seemingly "silly" request. But He does promise to do more than we even ask or think, right? (Ephesians 3:20)
When even the slightest prayer is answered, it is the Lord's way of reaffirming that I am His child, that I matter, and He loves me. Answered prayer strengthens my faith. What a teacher. What a friend. What a Savior.
I am basking in the love of God and His attentiveness to me because He created me and loves me with an everlasting love. Happy Birthday to me.
I am approaching my birthday with joy. Love to you all, Mecca.
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