Prebirthday Meditations

My husband is a freelance digital artist. That means that he generally has flexible schedules. He can work all night, or all day, or in shifts--whatever suits the need.

But Friday won't work for him. And since changing dates of birth is not a feasible possibility, we opted for splitting the fun-time-together-day-out into separate slivers of time. Wednesday morning we went out for breakfast. Saturday afternoon we'll do some shopping. And then he's taking me out to dinner. Oh baby! Sunday we might go to town to celebrate Mother's Day and enjoy the confusion.

But what happened yesterday is what I would like to tell you about right now. The baby woke me up unusually early, which was, well, unusual; but that was just as well, because we had planned to leave early anyway. Luchi took Floppy for us, THANKS LUCHI!!!! We ambled off in the lovely morning sunshine to a cute little cafe down the street, and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee together, while the baby earnestly gnawed on those sturdy little sugar packets and whined for my coffee cup.

At one point while discussing what we should do to celebrate my erstwhile birthday, Danny asked me what I would like as a gift.

Now anyone who knows me slightly generally does not lack knowledge of my wishlists. I normally have an arm's length list of stuff I desire to possess. I'm actually not super possessive, but neither am I secretive with my wishes.

Anyway, I opened my mouth confidently, stopped, and gaped a bit. Danny got a little annoyed, assuming I was being modest with him (am I ever?).

But as I racked my brain, I realized that I have no true unfulfilled desires. Everything I wanted or thought I wanted, has already been granted. The only thing I really want is a Spanish Bible, but someone already told me that they'll try to get me one.

My mind kept racing, but what could I do? Aside from the everyday trinkets, I have no real needs or wants that have not already been provided for.

And it got me thinking about how marvelous God is. We're not rich, or opulent, or anything of the sort, but we don't lack for any of our needs. Paul said something like, "I have learned to abase and abound"... wait, here it is:

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:12)

Anyway, we've been so very blessed in so many ways; I finally admitted the same to Danny, and he wholeheartedly agreed. We took some moments to thank Jesus together for His love and care, because, really, he's outdone himself again. Isn't Jesus worth living for?