First thought into my head when I awoke this morning, even before I opened my eyes, was “It’s my birthday today”! I immediately felt thankful … to know where I was, to remember it is Wednesday {also family day, pick-up-grandson-Nicholas-day, mid-week and hump day!} and to recall the date is January 11^th … the day I was born.

Of course, my day of birth has dawned faithfully every year so far … I’m living proof of that! I’m also thankful to see it arrive. I suppose I could view it as any other day … or any other birthday since this one doesn’t signify any particular milestone number reached or anything like that. Let’s just say that the number representing the years I’ve lived on earth, ends in a 2 … oh yes and it’s a double-digit number starting between 6 and 8. Just saying!! I wonder if one day I’ll hit a triple-digit-birthday?

I hope so. To reach the distinguished title of Centenarian will be amazing!

Since I’m the conductor of my orchestra, I’ll set the music for the day. Today will not be just another birthday. Today I’ll celebrate the amazing gift God granted me … life on earth … to make of it what I will. That alone makes it special doesn’t it? The anniversary of the day I received the most precious GIFT … ever!  

Life itself … to design and craft as I so choose!  

Wow!  What a valuable gift it is … and yet in the humdrum of daily living and all the noise that dulls our senses, it’s so easy to take it for granted … to think of it as “just another day” or “one more birthday”.  There have been times in the past that thoughts such as those have crossed my mind. 

But not today. It is January 11^th, the day before my Dad’s birthday … the day a sharp smack on the bottom {well deserved no doubt for showing up as a girl when a boy was expected} startled me into the world, as I took my first breath all those years ago. Despite grumbling to Chuck a few days ago {in a frustrated moment} that if I ever get a chance to return to earth in the future I’d come back as a man, I don’t really mean it!!  I love my life as a woman, a daughter, a wife, and mother. So blessed!

Shortly after I was born, I heard Dad say to Mum “she looks just like Winnie Churchill!” Nice!  Thanks a lot Dad!! I was chubby with a double chin? Alright, so I was short, fat and bald, okay? Not that I remember hearing those exact words, but tales have been told and they remain unrefuted.  And then they {my parents} scrambled to give me a suitable name … a girl’s name. They chose Anthea because my mother was reading a novel at the time and that was the heroine’s name!

No matter how I came by the name Anthea, I’m grateful for it and, unlike some people, I actually really enjoy my name. It’s a keeper. It’s different. Why or how Gillian came to be my middle name is unknown. No worries, I like it and I love it’s spelled with “G” and not “J”.

Today I’ve done nothing significant, unless it’s to change things up a bit. You might say I ate a significantly different breakfast from usual. I dug myself out of the normal rut of drinking a healthy protein shake for breakfast and instead I fired up the toaster, threw a chunk of whole wheat bread into it, let it sit until it got cold and then plastered it with a hefty load of butter and coated it with a smear of orange marmalade.

You see you have to let the toast go cold so the butter doesn’t melt, disappear into the toast and make it soggy. If you truly understand what’s happening here,  you’ll get that it’s really about having some toast and marmalade with your slab of butter … not just a piece of toast and marmalade. Good! Happy we cleared that up. 

I Loved every bite too.  No shame whatsoever. Not even an ounce of guilt attached.

Happy butter to me!!  Happy butter to me!! Hey, are you laughing at me or with me? It makes a difference you know! 🙂  Just you wait! When you get older you’ll find some of the simplest of things can make you happy … and unhealthy if you do it every day!  Which of course I don’t.  

Dang!  I enjoyed every bite!

Fact is, I haven’t done much at all except just enjoy my day so far, which is what I set out to do. Today I’m into “being” not “doing”… unless of course you consider writing is doing something. I love writing so it’s a treat to sit here and pour out random ramblings. As thoughts drop out of my head onto the paper, I am often surprised by what I read and the thoughts that surface.

BTW, did you know this? When you’re a writer, you don’t put yourself into what you write. You find yourself there. 

So no, it’s not “just” another birthday! It’s the anniversary of the day I was born into this world.  Thank you Lord for the privilege, for the opportunity to glorify you, to serve others, to marvel at the beauty of a birthday, to wonder at the meaning of life … and appreciate the freedom to choose how I spend each day of my journey.

Filled with gratitude as I celebrate this gift of life.

God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. ~Voltaire