Happy Birthday!
“But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” Psalm 3:3 KJV
In 1963, Lesley Gore released an album titled “I’ll Cry If I Want To.” There were twelve songs on this album, and six had the word “cry” or “tears” in their title. I only remember hearing one of the songs on this album, but, if you look at the titles of most of the other songs, it doesn’t appear to be one of the most uplifting albums ever recorded.
The song I remember hearing on the album was “It’s My Party.” This song also has a lot about crying in it. Five times it repeats the phase, “It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to, Cry if I want to, Cry if I want to.” Despite the somewhat gloomy lyrics, it is a catchy little jingle.
This last week seemed to be my week to celebrate my birthday. I know, birthdays are just supposed to be one day, but for some reason, sometimes, they seem to drag on longer than that. This is one of those years where that happened to be the case.
First, there is the big family birthday party. Some people love these occasions. They also work well if more than one birthday happens to be close to the same day, which was also the case on this family get-together. My stepdaughter’s birthday occurs a little earlier in the month. It gives everyone a reason to get together while also “killing two birds with one stone.”
Since it wasn’t actually my real birthday, nor was it hers, it meant the reminders of how old I’m getting could be stretched into other days, too. Don’t get me wrong, family get-togethers are great, and I appreciate everyone’s efforts of getting it together. I also appreciate the gifts, although I honestly tell everyone that I really don’t need anything.
This particular one was especially gloomy. About halfway through the birthday party, I got really sick and had to drive myself home. Thinking it might have just been something I ate, turned into an ER visit the following morning. They drained about half of my blood out of my arm and did a CAT scan.
After my long stay at one of the ER’s luxury suites, the doctor came in and told me it “might” just be something I ate, but I better go see a specialist, because it might be something beyond them. So, after several hours in the hospital’s lovely accommodations, they sent me home with some medicine, a huge bruise on my arm from where they “plugged in” the little portal to drain my blood dry, and who knows how much lighter my wallet is going to be.
The next morning, I was still not feeling well, and the earliest I could get a specialist appointment was a month out. It usually takes a little bit to get me discouraged, but this was really starting to drag me down. In the afternoon I started feeling a little better, but things still didn’t seem completely right.
The next day was my actual birthday. Now you might understand why I started this blog with Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” song. Strangely, when I woke up, I felt amazingly well. I had already taken this day off work, but really didn’t plan to actually do anything. I figured that I would figure that out as that day got closer. It got further delayed because I wanted to make sure I was up to doing something.
As it turns out, I had one of the best birthdays (the actual day) that I have ever had. My wife told me we could do whatever I wanted. I told her I would like to go see my father’s grave. The family has been waiting quite a while for his tombstone to come in. It came in a couple of weeks ago, and I hadn’t had the chance to see it yet.
So, we headed to Southern Maryland. As I stood there admiring his tombstone, I looked around and saw all the other family tombstones surrounding his.
As I pointed from one tombstone to another, I told my wife about each one of them. Sometimes I would interject a little story of that person’s interaction with me. Her eyes looked into mine like I was telling her the most incredible stories. I’m sure, inside, she must have been bored to death. But she never even gave the first hint of that. It was my day, and she was going to make sure it was a memorable one.
Next, I took her to where my grandparents, and other family members, used to, and some still do, live. Again, I bored her with some more stories, but she never once acted like she was bored. We traveled down some back roads that I traveled down so many times before I was even old enough to drive.
Before we headed home, we stopped in for one of my favorite things: seafood next to the water. I had never been to that restaurant before, but the food was great, especially the crab cake sandwich I had. I looked across the table and completely understood why I love this girl so much.
For the sake of this story, we will call this young lady JB. I highly doubt anyone calls her that, because in the book she has written I don’t see her ever using that as a nickname, and she does mention other nicknames she was called.
JB has a twin, and I guess we will continue the trend, we will call her BB. BB doesn’t really appear much in any other parts of our story, but I thought the least I could do was acknowledge her.
JB came from a family that really loved her. It was a very close-knit family and there were always lots of family get-togethers. Most of these get-togethers happened at her grandparents’ house. These occasions could often include many people, since her grandparents had a very large family.
Since JB was a twin, and she was very close to her sister BB, I’m sure most of their birthdays involved both of them. Although I’m sure they were all special, you still have to wonder if they ever reached that level of an ultimate, queen for the day, moment.
Although she never talks about that specific issue in her book, she does tell some stories when it was just her dad and her, or one of her grandparents and her, all alone. Every one of those moments held a special place in her heart.
JB tells of a fishing trip she took with her father and grandfather. They loved to get up early and go fishing on the ocean. Although she wasn’t really a morning person at the time, she loved these little outings because that meant she had her father and grandfather all to herself.
JB would wake up extra early. She would creep around her twin sister so she wouldn’t wake her up. After all, she didn’t want her coming along and robbing her of all the attention. There was no way her sister would be able to swim out on the ocean to catch them once they left the shore.
Whenever JB caught a fish, which was quite by accident according to her account, her father and grandfather would jump and yell like it was the largest fish ever caught. Her smile was a beam that showed her approval for their applause.
There is just something about being on, or near the water. I’m sure those who work on the water just think of it as a job, but you have to wonder if there is more to it than that. Most of the people I know who work on the water are either very good actors, or they actually do love their jobs.
It is strange how many stories in the Bible deal with water or people who worked on the water. There was the creation of the waters and not too far past that, you have Moses turning the Nile into blood and parting the Red Sea. How about Noah and the ark, or Jonah and the big fish?
This is a story about one of those Bible characters who worked on the sea. It sounds like he came from a family that made their living on the water. The Bible doesn’t really say if he enjoyed his time on a boat or not, but there are a lot of Bible stories where he is on the water or getting ready to go on the water.
In fact, it is from the shore that we get our first introduction to him. I’m not real sure if he had just come in after a day’s work, was getting ready to go out, or if that is just where you could always find him. But it is here we get introduced to his story.
The Bible character gets a job offer. He must leave his family, and the family business, if he takes this job. The choice might have been easier since his brother was also offered a similar position. I’m sure leaving the security of the family business and moving onto land for the new job was a little scary for him. But, sometimes, a new adventure is a good thing, right?
This new job was definitely not boring. His boss was so charismatic it was hard for anyone not to like him. Still, with that popularity came some jealousy from the church leaders. Seems their boss was stealing some of their crowds and their thunder. That didn’t make the church leaders very happy.
Still, the Bible character felt like he was part of something bigger and his own relationship with the leader got closer and closer. It was almost like their relationship was more than a boss-employee and becoming more of a best friend relationship. He was always eager to impress the boss. It sometimes came across as he was saying, “See, I know the boss so well I can almost finish his sentences for him.”
I’m sure the Bible character didn’t develop that attitude by just being part of that group. There must have been some “quality time” that the boss and he spent together by themselves. The boss was a little bit of a mystery though, because he often had to put this Bible character in his place with some of the wild comments he would make.
These rebukes must have not done too much to harm the Bible character’s ego, because he never leaves the group. Many believe he was one of the strongest leaders of this group.
Then came one of the largest crowds yet. People lined up and down the street, shouting excitement about the boss’ arrival into one of their largest cities. Now the Bible character knew he was part of something extremely large. Maybe, just maybe, his boss was going to become the ruler over their entire land. I’m sure he felt like he was in the right place at the right time.
As I stood at my father’s grave, tons of wonderful memories filled my soul. I thought of all the amazing things my dad and I did together and all the wonderful places he had taken me and our family. But it was the times that it was just him and me that stuck out the most. You see, on those occasions, I had my dad all to myself.
The same thoughts filled my head as we headed toward where my grandparents used to live. I looked down the road where I remember my grandfather taking me, in his old truck, to a little country store. Pointing to the woods near my grandfather’s place, I told my wife of how my uncle, who is just a little older than me, and I used to play army in those woods.
I will tell you, I’m the luckiest guy in the whole world. When we sat down to lunch, I looked across the table and my heart pounded almost like the first time I saw her. I treasured that moment where it was just my wife and me. Yes, it was one of the best birthdays ever.
Once, when JB, or Jenna Bush, went on one of these fishing excursions, her father, George W. Bush was President. Her grandfather, George HW Bush, who was a former President himself, was also there. They weren’t truly alone. There were Secret Service Agents and members of the press not too far out of sight.
Jenna had a fish on the line. Her father and grandfather cheered her on as she pulled it in. “Wow, what a beauty!” they bragged. They took the fish off the hook and her grandfather rushed to start the boat.
George HW Bush, her grandfather, was known to be quite the daredevil when he was on the Fidelity, his boat. Before she knew it, Grampy, as she called her grandfather, was speeding directly toward the Secret Service Agents and the press boats.
As Grampy and her dad got close, they pulled out her fish and started bragging to both the press and the Secret Service Agents about the fish their girl caught. A little bit embarrassed, but glowing with pride, Jenna couldn’t believe the attention she was getting. Here were two men, one the leader of the free world and the other a former leader of the free world, who have seen almost every major site that could be viewed in the world, and they were overcome with joy by a fish a little girl caught.
Jenna was equally surprised when a picture of her and her fish ended up on the front page of the next day’s New York Times. Had this been the event of a lifetime, or what?
Jenna Bush also tells the story when she saw her dad and her grandfather returning from one of their many fishing trips they would take together with only each other. On this particular occasion Jenna stood some distance away, so neither of them would notice her. She watched as her father beamed with pride from the attention he was getting from his father, her Grampy. She wondered if the feelings she had about being special were also the same ones he was experiencing then.
This got Jenna thinking and she started to recall other times when her aunt and uncle spent their own quality time with Grampy. Each one of them felt they were special in their own way because of the times Grampy was willing to dote on his kids and grandkids. But she also wondered if Grampy had those special feelings for his kids and grandkids wanting to spend time with him.
Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, before the cheering crowd, must have stirred some pride into all His disciples, especially Peter. Little did Peter know there was a reason it would eventually be called the Last Supper. He didn’t realize his boss, leader, friend was about to be killed and ruin all Peter’s plans for an earthly king. In fact, Pete was so determined that wasn’t going to happen that he even corrected Jesus when He mentioned it.
“No, Jesus, You are wrong. They will never take You. I will die before I let that happen,” said Peter. “Peter, you are so wrong on this one. Your talk is so tough, but before the rooster crows, tomorrow morning, you will not even admit you know me. Not once, not twice, but three times you are going to deny our friendship, our relationship, or even that we crossed paths,” Jesus would respond. The Bible doesn’t tell us a single word Peter uttered or thought about Jesus’ response, but Jesus, like always, proved Himself to be right.
So, when Jesus died on the cross, His “best friend” was nowhere to be found. There was no great defense until death, just an unfaithful friend hiding away in some locked room where he couldn’t be found. Where oh where was the mighty Peter?
Jesus’ death had to be really hard on Peter. I’m sure he thought about all the crowds, all the miracles, and all the lessons Jesus taught, and he witnessed. But I think Peter most thought about the times Jesus spent time alone with him and the lessons He taught him. Not only did he miss his friend, he had to be covered with remorse with how he had left Jesus alone to die.
We pick up a story after Jesus’ death. Peter isn’t out preaching about his lost friend. No, Peter is back at the family business: fishing. As if his sorrow wasn’t enough, the fishing was lousy, too. Someone on shore shouts for them to try the other side. When they do just that, they had more fish than they could handle. Peter knew who that someone was that shouted at them to put their nets on the other side.
Jumping in the water, Peter swam toward shore. He wanted one more of those moments alone with Jesus before all the others could come to the shore. He wanted Jesus, one more time, all to himself. He wanted another one of those wonderful memories of it just being Jesus and him.
I know when I used to go fishing with my dad, there was no such thing as a late start. If you could even see a hint of the sun, you had arrived too late. As a young teenager, this seemed like a very high price to pay to spend “quality time” with my dad. Today I treasure every one of those memories, but as a teenager I’m sure my enthusiasm wasn’t so pronounced.
One of the most unfortunate things in life is the fact we often take those moments alone with someone for granted. Maybe we think they will always be there. It might be that we believe things just don’t change and will always be this way.
We forget that we grow up or the other person grows up. Life separates us and that often leads to less of those times we get those “special moments” to spend together. Who knows who is to blame? Maybe you moved away from the closeness or maybe the other person did. Life changes us, our location, our priorities, and our direction.
Then one day, we attend a funeral or hear of someone’s death. Our minds immediately turn toward our memories with that person. All of a sudden past historical places in our lives become hallowed ground. Memories become jewels we relive in our minds.
Maybe we should do a better job of recognizing that those special moments we have alone with someone special are one day going to be the jewels we store in our heart. They shouldn’t be moments where we focus on what we are getting out of it because what we may get out of it just might be one of those memories, we never forget years later.
People are made special to other people because of those special moments they spend together. A fishing trip with a dad or granddad, a special day with an incredible wife, or even walking with your best friend can last a lifetime.
But did you ever think of another one of those special creating moment occasions. Imagine taking a few moments and creating time with your Heavenly Father. Maybe it is a prayer that is not asking anything but spending time with Him. It could be reading the Bible to discover the wise words He has given others to teach us how to have a relationship with Him or just opening our eyes to the path He wants us to travel.
There are always opportunities to enjoy His creation and to let Him know how much we enjoy it. He may send someone to our path that needs help. What a great opportunity to do something with the heart He wants us to have.
If you really think about it, maybe that is why He created us in the first place: to have a relationship with Him. Everyone wants those special moments with someone special. You are special to Him, why not show Him He is special to you, too.
