May is a wonderful month.  It is usually the real start of Springtime, so winter is moving out the back door.   The days are longer, warmer and brighter.  My mood always improves in May.  Even this year, under the pall of sickness covering our land, hope seems to have increased as we enter the month of May.

May is also my birthday month, which makes it extra special for me.  Everyone likes to feel cherished on their birthday and I am no exception.  Growing up in a large family, birthday celebrations were one way to help each child know their unique place in the family.  My mother was a star at this task.

Although we didn’t have big birthday parties with lots of friends (we had a big enough party with nine siblings around the table), we did have a special festivity.  My mother made the best chocolate cake with buttercream frosting!  Sometimes, for the little ones, she would make a designer cake, like a circus train or teddy bear.  But the chocolate cake was always the premiere request.

Here’s an example of the extent to which my mother would go to recognize our birthdays:  for my freshman year at college, my mother made my birthday cake and sent it by “Special Delivery” (remember that expensive postal service of old?) from Connecticut to Vermont!  To say that I was surprised would be a gross understatement.  I was overjoyed with the feeling of love that accompanied that cake.  I knew the sacrifice that my mother had made to get that cake to me on my birthday.

I will never forget how Mom reminded me that I was her cherished child.  My mother’s love for me is a dim shadow of the overwhelming, unconditional love that God has for me, for you, for all His creations.  Let this be your first thought when waking, your last as you end your day and every moment in between.

Happy Birthday to all!

Terri

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1, NIV)