Tell me more (about SB) Mondays

 

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Every day is a gift from God.  I believe that.  And if today is the day that happens to be the day you were born, well then you are part of the rejoicing in this day!

I don’t understand the ‘evil’ that some religions say is in celebrating birthdays.  If this is the day the Lord has made (and we know that He also made ALL things – you and me as well), and we are told to rejoice and be GLAD in it – then let’s celebrate today!  And if today is your birthday, let’s celebrate the birthday girl or boy!

So,

Today is my birthday!

And while I don’t usually want to be recognized with any attention or fuss at the fact that I have aged another year, I thought I would talk about birthdays and then share how great my family is and how they rejoiced and were glad for … me!

I have to first recognize my parents and how great it was to have dinner yesterday at “Three Hermanos”  Yum – yes we are talking Mexican food.  Thanks Mom and Pop for dinner!  Like always, I ate too many chips with salsa and my dinner of spinach mushroom enchiladas were delicious.  The birthday check in the birthday card was also much appreciated.  (Thanks Dad, too, for the card & check.)

‘Amazon’ delivered a birthday present on Friday to me – A cookbook from Ric & Kristen!  Although I DO eat meat, I prefer to eat a lot of vegetarian meals lately.  I shared with Kristen the fantastic vegetarian meals I’ve been making lately from my ’emeals’ menus – but Kristen took me up a notch with Martha Stewart’s spin on meatless meals.

Monkey Amanda gave me the perfect card with the gift of a French coffee press (I think Ted helped to pick it out!)

So why a French coffee press?  Ted and I have a Keurig coffee maker that we LOVE and prefer for making our morning cup(s) of coffee.  However, I brought back some very fine coffee from my mission trip to Guatemala.  Keurig coffee makers require K-cups and although we have the gizmo that allows you to ‘load’ your own coffee grounds into it to make a Keurig cup of coffee, it is really too much of a hassle.  Fellow mission team member Fred had the same problem and recommended the French Press.  Now we can drink some of the superb Guatemalan coffee.  (That’s a cloth bag of some of the coffee I bought in the background)

Ted’s card made me cry:

Awww … he’d marry me all over again!  It was a very sweet card.

Now to tie this all into my Monday blog theme of it being ‘Tell me more about SB Mondays’ I just want to say that each and every birthday that a person with spina bifida has is indeed a super big awesome reason to celebrate.  All those extra challenges that SB throws at a person make each day more precious and special.  So each passing year is an accomplishment and a reason to rejoice.

Ted’s card continued on the inside to say that if he could he’d go back to relive every happy moment because he can’t imagine anything better than that – unless it’s to look forward to all the moments that are still ahead for us.

No matter the ups and downs, the challenges, or the ways SB has affected our lives through the years … it’s all the good times that we remember and that make life so sweet.  That also paves the way for the hope for the good times yet to come.

Just Laurel

Thanks for the birthday greetings everyone!