27

Today I turn 27 years old.

27 isn’t really a monumental age—It’s kinda this weird middle ground age where you are officially in your late 20’s... It’s like you’re basically 30… whichcan be a scary thought!

I find my birthday can sometimes get lost betweenthe hectic completion of the holiday season and the onset of easing back into routines.I can recall the year as a teenager when everyone forgot my birthday (with myparents as the exception). I can also recall the year my husband planned anamazing surprise birthday party for me. It used to be all or nothing but, as I grow older, it tends to have found a lovely middle ground I like to call ‘lowkey’. 

Low key is nice. I’m a weird mix of anintrovert and an extrovert. I can be outgoing in a social situation where I’mone-on-one with someone new or with close friends, but I can also be 110%content portraying the fly on a wall during an eventful evening, standing in the midst of buzzing conversations fromthose chattering around me. This is why a low-key birthday is pretty great.It’s chill, easy, and all the attention of a large amount of people isn’t focusedon me—which tends to weird me out pretty fast.

Be that as it may, it’s nice to becelebrated! This is the fun part of having a birthday! Taking the time tocelebrate individuals just for being born—just for being themselves! If wetruly saw ourselves the way God does, we would think every day is our birthday! With that thought in mind, taking some time one day a year seems like a great idea.

Celebrating someone on his or her specialday can be an amazing thing. I think the most important part of celebratingsomeone is to honour them in a way they find special. Lavishing someone withgifts when they are against consumerism may not be the best idea! In the same light, a simple happy birthday text, when you know an individual is 100% gifts orquality time as a love language, also perhaps isn’t the best way. If you knowsomeone well enough, you can do something small that will show them youbelieve they are worthy of celebration. That small act can leave a significantmark in making them feel special on their day.

Growing up in my family, birthdays werealways celebrated. As a kid I can recall my mother making me an epic birthdaycake with a marshmallow bunny on it, or a cake shaped as a teddy bear (enter;where I get my creativity in the kitchen from!). She created a poster thatcould be used year after year with the simple switch of a number (crafty andeconomical), and would go with the staple balloons and streamers. One simplegift was all that was given and, looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Birthdayparties with a few friends would be thrown and, without fail, almost every yearan epic snow storm would happen around my birthday to really attempt to throw awrench into any already made plains. Reflecting on birthdays past is fun andmakes you realize what really makes you feel special—and how you would like tobe celebrated in the future.

This year for my birthday, a couple of my close friends took me to an old-fashioned tea house. We drank tea out of fancy china and indulged in freshly baked scones with homemade jam. It was lovely. It was very 'me' and it was nice to be celebrated. The attendees both gave me cat cards that meowed happy birthday-- which are sitting on display as I write, smiling at me from across the room. It's like they are begging to meow to me... which actually just freaks out our real life cat.

     

For myself, looking back at the birthday’sof years past, it’s knowing someone took the time to think of me which makes mefeel noteworthy on the day of my birth. Kind words written in a card, a textmessage with more than the letters ‘HBD’, a small gift chosen specificallybecause the giver thought of me when they saw it, or a friend who isn’t a bakerbaking birthday cookies. As I always tend to say, it’s the little things thatmake the biggest difference.

When the birthday of a close friend orfamily member comes up this year, I encourage you to really take a moment andthink about how you can show the person in your life how much you appreciatethem, how special you truly believe they are, and how you are thankful thatthere is one day a year made specifically to celebrate their unique awesomenessgiven to them by God. A birthday happens just once a year, take the time tomake people feel as precious as they really are.