The Last Place You Wanna Be

The last place you wanna be on your birthday is in a dental chair, looking up at the ceiling.

But God has a way of showing up to celebrate your birthday when you least expect it.

Even while in a dental chair, counting the holes in the tiled ceiling.

Which in a flash took me back to my church days as a five-year-old snugged against mom during the service. Fidgety, I'd finally comfort myself by laying my head in her lap and staring at the ceiling.

Yes, a similar tiled ceiling with holes I could count.

The memory provoked a warm nostalgic flood to wash over me.

Mama would stroke my brow with a gentle sweep of my bangs to the side.

Just when I'd counted as far as I could go (maybe to twenty or so as a five-year-old), I'd get fidgety again.

Mama would pull out her pretty cloth handkerchief and fashion it into a tiny cradle with baby inside. I can still picture it, though I never learned how to do it.

I wish I had, because it would be a wonderful thing to pass down to my grandchildren from their great grandmother.

Perhaps my sister will know how. I'll ask her when I see her next.

In the meantime, I'll bask in the glow and wonder of God showing up with a warm mother memory to help me feel close to her on my birthday.

Even in the dental chair. 

The Best Birthday Gift

Quietly, she slipped an arm around me, held it there, and softly sang, “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Eileen, happy birthday to you.”

Our foursome of church sisters gathered for our annual Christmas dinner and gift exchange (which just so happened to coincide with my birthday), but nothing touched my heart quite like that simple gesture. You see, my singing friend is a miracle.

Doctors didn’t think she would ever talk again, let alone sing. Due to thyroid cancer, she’d undergone surgery at great risk to her vocal cords. Yet, not only did she regain her speaking voice, but she stood on our church platform and sang only a few months later. Not as clearly or with as much control, but she sang! With a smile on her face, she sang. And heaven rang with praise.

So did my heart. Never has God used her so powerfully than in her weakness.

Knowing how God has brought good from her suffering moves me deeply. Knowing she would love to sing once again with a clear, crisp voice but quietly accepts God’s will moves me even more.

Never has she glorified Him more than now. For this brief season, until she sings with full abandon in His Kingdom, forever and ever!

Thank you, Cheryl, for the best birthday gift I received this year. 

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For more enduring stories, visit Eileen's Author Page

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