it's my birthday

Photo by Richard Burlton on Unsplash

This week I turned 31.

I have always loved my birthday (maybe a little too much), thinking of it more as a birthmonth than a birthday. I've always loved the idea of celebrating being alive. January 27 has always felt almost magical, infused with the love my parents had that brought me into the world, and the love that has sustained me every year.

In our fast-paced, oversaturated world, it's important to find moments during the day, and days during the year, for intentional reflection. Your birthday is a perfect opportunity for prayerful accounting of our lives. Where has God been moving in my life? What am I being led toward this year? What have I learned since my last birthday?

This year, I'm using this reflection by Joyce Rupp in Out of the Ordinary to guide my birthday reflections. I have three friends who have the exact same birthday as me (Kara! Jeff! Carrie!), but if it's not your birthday this week, bookmark this and come back to it on your special day. I recommend writing down your answers in a journal. Or, you could write your reflections on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope, then look at it on your next birthday.

"I look back upon the past year, through the many ups and downs, and I gather my significant memories - people, events, inner stirrings, dreams, jolts, joys, heartaches, etc. - all that touched my life in any sort of special way.

As I look over my year:

I am especially grateful for...

I am amazed at...

I am puzzled by...

I wish that...

As I look toward the coming year:

I long for...

I hope that...

I trust...

I promise...

I ask...

Now pause and visualize a messenger of God drawing near to you. This messenger bears a blessing of God for your coming year. Receive the blessing from the messenger. Spend some time in quiet, allowing the blessing to permeate your entire being.

To conclude this reflection, write a short prayer in your journal or on a paper that you will keep and refer to each month on the date of your birthday (e.g., if your birthday is the tenth of May, on the tenth of each month you would read your birthday prayer and remember the blessing that was given to you). Now go and celebrate!" (Out of the Ordinary, by Joyce Rupp, page 45)

Here is the birthday prayer I wrote for myself this year after sitting quietly with God. I will read it on the 27th of every month this year (I put a reminder in my calendar so I won't forget!):

May you have tears

release

relief from pain

may your presence relieve

the pain of others

May you know your own

goodness

enoughness

belovedness

feel the ground supporting

your spine

Feel the release of slipping into

sleep

as you slip into

love

This is my prayer for you -

notice

slip into wakefulness

like you slip into sleep.

gently. freely.

physically felt

love.