Yea! It's Another Birthday!

The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.- Muhammad Ali

Happy Birthday to You!  Happy Birthday to You!  Happy Birthday Dear Son!  Happy Birthday to You!

Today I celebrate the greatest gift I've ever received, my son.  We no longer have a teenager in our little family, just the two of us.  He is a twenty year old young man.  He is bright and witty and smart in ways I can't even begin to understand.

Some days he is every bit his twenty years.  Other days, he seems closer to the ten year old boy I knew such a short time ago.  Most days I am ready for him to be twenty five and beyond all this twenty year old drama but then I remember that it's the drama that makes us what we are to be.

After all, isn't it the pain that teaches us how to pray, how to comfort others, how to forgive?  Aren't the trials how we learn just how much we're capable of? 

I'm looking for (and ready for) that rainbow with the pot of gold at the end but it's the rain that makes the rainbow.  And the more rain the more beautiful the rainbow! 

When we are young our rainbows are the primary colors; still nice to look at but just the basics.  As we grow, all the trials and pains of life create a depth and range of color that we could never imagine.  Those primary colors become richer and deeper, and a whole spectrum of colors are added to make a rainbow that, when lit with the sunshine of our lives, brings a brilliance and fire no one could have foreseen.

I remember being twenty.  It wasn't that long ago.  I remember believing that I held all the answers, that I knew better than my parents or grandparents.  I remember it all.  It's what has made my rainbow the beautiful picture that it is, complete with the deepest colors of my soul.

I love watching the rainbow of my son!  It is a work in progress but it is oh so beautiful to watch as it grows and changes.  The storms are not fun, but what amazing colors they produce! 

Thank you, God, for all the rainbows in my life, but especially for this amazingly beautiful one!  Happy Birthday, Son!  I love you!

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 127: 3-5