On Friday we celebrated Kate’s 17th birthday! I had Dancing Queen playing as she came into the kitchen that morning. I grabbed Kate by hand and we danced as the lyrics sang, “young and sweet only seventeen.”

I grew up watching my parents dance together in our kitchen. At family gatherings my grandparents would dance together while my Mom and one of her brothers would do their version of swing dance around the room. The joy in those moments has always stayed with me. And I get to carry on the tradition and twirl my daughter around our kitchen, as we celebrated a new day, and a new year for our girl!

Celebrating life is a gift! Sometimes having birthdays is something we can take for granted. Yet every day, week, month and year, is truly a blessing from God!

I share this with you today, in case you, like me, somedays forget that there is joy available for us each morning; as we get to celebrate the new day we’ve been gifted.

Today, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

May we celebrate the gift of life today, whether it’s a birthday, or just another ordinary day. We are here today with breath in our lungs, eyes that see, ears that hear, and with voices that get to speak, “I love you” to those we love. Yes, life is full of hard, heavy moments, days and seasons. Yet when we choose to lift our eyes from the struggle and put them back on God, He can help us see what a blessing it is to get to be here, even if we are in the midst of a trying time. So whether we are in a light or heavy season, may we celebrate this day we have been gifted and experience the joy available to us each day, like the joy I experienced when I got to be here beside Kate as she turned 17 on Friday, and got to dance with my girl in the kitchen.

With love and hope,
Shawn

"...joy comes with the morning.”
- Psalm 30:5