Celebrating March - Part 1

Today is the last day of March.

It has been a joy-ful month for me. As always, words are never enough to describe what I feel. There is that overflowing thanksgiving in my heart, for God has seen me, and my family, through. He has been the God of more than enough, the prodigal Father.

One author used that word, prodigal, to describe God. He is the "wastefully extravagant" God, but in a good sense. He is the God who isn't too early or too late, He is always on time. And He doesn't give His love according to how much we love Him. When He gives it is a "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over..."

My Father's economy isn't the economy of this world... He gives, but not as the world gives!

As in years past, my birthday was a very special one. I felt loved, and appreciated. I received very many SMS messages, email, cards from across the seas, gifts, and phone calls. Two women's groups that I am a part of gave birthday parties for me, on March 24 and March 26, and one more will be given for me on April 4. On March 27, my birthday, a few friends that I had invited joined our family for an early breakfast.

This was the verse I read for my birthday, and I know that it is the verse that I will keep in my heart for this new year of my life:

If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,

Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Isaiah 58:9b-11

I want to share some of the highlights of the last few days of March:

My Stargazer Lily bloomed just a few days before March 18,
the day Ernie and I got married 31 years ago.

My grandson Matthew turned five months old on March 20.
And as this picture shows, my grandson inherited
my eyes and my lips!

Renovation work on my "ministry" kitchen was completed

one week before my birthday!

Matthew was dedicated to the Lord on the same day as my birthday, March 27. In this picture, he is fussing because of the baby barong (a formal Filipino shirt worn on formal affairs) that his mother bought for the occasion. They had to take it off eventually, and he was dedicated wearing his undershirt!

A very special cake for Matthew's dedication!

In the evening, we celebrated First Born and God Given's first wedding anniversary, and my 56th birthday, at Kai Sei, our family's favorite Japanese restaurant.

This was taken on March 28 at the West Negros University gym during the commencement exercises. (I will do another blog post about this.)

And so, as the month of March ends, my favorite month of all, I want to give God all the thanksgiving that my heart can express.

Andrae Crouch in the video below sings one of Ernie's favorite songs, "My Tribute."