My mom has always been fantastic at celebrating. Growing up we celebrated a lot of things – there was the
usual birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays but we also celebrated good
marks in school, the completion of an Awana book, a Kiwanis music festival
success, learning to ride a two wheel bike, a new tooth…and sometimes we just
celebrated a person because of who God made them to be. Celebrations were
always different but a staple growing up was the red, *You are Special*
plate at dinner time. It was such a delight to come home from school and see
whose place the red plate was set at. Our family loved celebrating one another.
Celebrations have changed as we’ve grown older but we still love to get
together and celebrate. My mom still does a fantastic job of celebrating us
through cards, phone calls, emails, little gifts…she’s so wonderful!
I
won’t lie – I loved being the one who was being celebrated (OK, I still love
that – March is my birthday *month* <winks!>)…but I also love celebrating
others without needing a specific occasion. A bunch of the women in my small group recently spent time
together celebrating new beginnings in one woman’s life…we talked about how
faithful God has been through her trial, how she’s grown and glorified God and
we talked about what was to come with great joy. I know of a family in our church who has *Super Saturdays*
in their house to celebrate weekly spiritual growth in their kids – how great
is that!?! As our church is talking about joy I’ve started to think more about
joy and celebration…how they go together.
The thing is – as believers we have SO much to be thankful
for and to celebrate. Psalm 118:24 tells us that “This is the day that the LORD
has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I don’t rejoice in my days
enough…it’s easy for me to get caught up in the hard things of life and the
sin areas in my life that I need to be working on. I was recently talking with
some friends about balancing being aware that I’m a sinner with celebrating the
work of Christ in my life and that he’s not done with me yet. We NEED to be aware of our need of a
Saviour but we also NEED to rejoice and celebrate his goodness, love and
blessing in our lives.
I’d love to hear about some
of the things that YOU celebrate and *how* you celebrate.