My two birthdays

When I was younger I used to get so excited for my birthday. I'd have a countdown which started a month beforehand and the night before I'd never be able to sleep. My past few birthdays have been met with a grudging acceptance- I'm getting older. Each year brings more and more responsibilities and expectations. When you turn five or six, the only expectation of you is that you have proper manners and are well-behaved. By fifteen or sixteen, you're expected to be mature enough to drive a car, have your future more or less mapped out (those university application deadlines are looming!), and at eighteen you're officially considered an adult. Saturday was my 21rst birthday, and of course with it came even more changes and responsibilities- 21 is the cut-off age for me to be on my parents' health insurance and now my car insurance changes too. Gone are the carefree days of wearing a party hat and eating cupcakes every September 16th!
I realize how very blessed I am because I'm lucky my birthday is cause for another celebration- the fact that every year my birthday is not just a marker of another year, but also cause for celebration that I actually have 2 birthdays. In church whenever some has a birthday we also sing about how "born again means salvation; how many have you?" in reference to how the day you accepted the Lord in to your heart is also a "birthday". This birthday I can honestly say that when my friends toasted me at dinner, I not only toasted to my 21rst birthday but also to the fact that I have a second birthday, one that guarantees me everlasting and eternal life!

Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you.
- 1 Peter 1:3-4

Have a great week!

*L