May 12, 2008

It seems to be that as we get older, birthdays pass by with a comment like “oh, it’s just a day in the year”. True, we exchange gifts, have a small gathering (unless it’s a milestone year) and maybe even some cake. Of course we give thanks to God that we have been blessed thru another year and pray for continued blessing thru the next. Other than that, typically you don’t really “feel” any different from one year to the next.

But, for me this year, I definitely feel different. I feel older, I feel more experienced in life in more ways than I’d like to, but above all, I feel closer to God. So much has happened in the past year that life has definitely taken on a more serious side. The last of which just happened a few short weeks ago.

My beautiful niece, Kallie Rose Hicks, was born on my birthday. As an Aunt, you can’t ask for anything better than that! It was a beautiful day. She was 2 and a half pounds, she had 10 perfect fingers and 10 perfect toes. She had soft brown velvety hair. She had the most perfect beautiful face, and her lips were pursed so cute. Kallie was absolutely gorgeous.

But God saw it in His infinite wisdom to take her home in just over an hour. It was in His most perfect plan for my sister and her husband to have Kallie with them for only a short time. Kallie is now in the presence of our great God – we will see her again. Makes your longing for Christ’s return that much more ‘real’ and ‘urgent’.

Even though emotionally drained by the end of the day, I’m pretty sure most of us were on a “spiritual high” for all that we had witnessed. Our prayers were answered for Kallie to be born alive – that my sister and her husband were able to see her, hold her and love her unconditionally. That we could all be there as family, that we were able to meet Kallie, that some of us even had the awesome opportunity to hold her ourselves later that afternoon (we thought seeing her for 5 minutes was amazing – this was so beyond that!). God had held us thru the weeks and months leading up to this day – and He was there with us the day she was born – and will continue to be with us for the weeks, months and years to come.


We have an amazing God.



Psalm 139:13-16


For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.