A Day to Celebrate

(Editors note: The picture in this post is from my birthday in 2023, I turned 48 today).

I am someone who loves being busy. The Lord called me to a mission field with lots of needs to be met, and many opportunities to serve Him. Yet with all of that busyness, sometimes the best thing we can do is stop and rest.

For me today was a day of rest and celebration….

it also happens to be my birthday.

Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being busy on your birthday! But I prefer to spend them looking back on the past year and thanking the Lord for His goodness. Also, birthdays are for looking forward to the next year, and setting goals for the future.

But looking backwards and forwards is just part of the celebration

It also involves eating good food
Reading a good book
An afternoon nap
Watching a movie
and being (dare I say it) lazy!!!

These days of celebration come for me about every three-months (the last one was new-years day). They are opportunities for me to stop, catch my breath, and refocus on what matters.

Though days of celebration are slow, they are needed because they give me much needed clarity.

And remind me that I don’t have to do it all.

It is far too easy to become “too busy” in ministry. Just running from one activity to another all day to the point of exhaustion. Though somedays will be like this, when this is the normal way of life, there’s a problem.

We can rush from one task to another like Martha and neglect the opportunity to simply sit at the feet of Jesus.

for me this is where celebration days come in

they are when I stop running….and start listening to the Lord.

Tomorrow things will be busy again, and that’s okay.

But every once in a while, the Lord wants us to sit at His feet.

Johnhwilburn.com