Birthday Reflections

It was my 27th birthday on Thursday and I finally feel like an adult. Maybe it’s because I’ve now been married for 3 years, have a retirement account, and just received the invitation to my 5 year college reunion. Or perhaps I’ve actually been an adult for some time but have been so preoccupied with other things that it hasn’t hit me until now. Considering this is the first birthday in 3 years that I celebrated outside of the hospital, the latter seems most likely.

While redeeming the coupon for my free birthday drink from Starbucks this morning, I was reminded of last year’s birthday coupon, which I received while in the hospital for my bone marrow transplant. By the time I could visit Starbucks in person, about 4 months had elapsed since my birthday and my coupon had long since expired. Luckily, people tend to bend the rules when they hear you’ve had a bone marrow transplant :).

This birthday was different in so many ways from the past two years. I was able to go out to a restaurant rather than eat hospital food, eat a cake baked by a friend rather than one delivered on my hospital tray, receive gifts that weren’t pre-sterilized to prevent infection, and be given fresh flowers. Most importantly, I celebrated another year of life that, without a bone marrow transplant, may not have been possible.

Jeremiah 1:5 GWT
Before I formed you in the womb,
     I knew you.
  Before you were born,
     I set you apart for my holy purpose.

Psalm 139:13-16 NCV
13 You made my whole being;
   you formed me in my mother's body.
14 I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
   What you have done is wonderful.
   I know this very well.
15 You saw my bones being formed
   as I took shape in my mother's body.
When I was put together there,
16 you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me
   were written in your book
   before I was one day old.

These scriptures give me hope that I was created for a purpose, and that my birth and my life are special to God. I often get frustrated about many areas of my life that are still restricted or different from how they were or how I’d like them to be, but believing that God already knows what lies ahead for me helps to give me a sense of peace.