The speech, the Road and Real Life

The Birthday

This week I celebrated another birthday. It was farewell to another year of my life and hello to the one that lies ahead. I celebrated with some friends and I decided to say a small speech. Those who know me know I seize any and every opportunity to say something. I really wanted these friends to be blessed and know that they are valued by me as they have blessed me and my family in many ways.

So I began to think about what to say......

I am a visual sort of person and so I had a picture , a story in my mind. It was a road with heavy bush and greenery on the side but also at the same time a dark and dangerous , almost black pathway. On the sides were lights to shine the way in the dark bit and the lights clearly defined the edges. Jesus was there too.

I was taken back in time to another speech I gave. It was at our wedding and I remember it almost word for word. I told a story about a storm and a journey and a long and desolate road. I was alone and although Doug and Jesus were there too, Doug was ahead of me waiting and Jesus was a way off too, calling and beckoning me along to him.
So I decided to speak about the road and journey of life a little with these friends. A friend recently shared a new word which I just love. it is a made up word describing the rich and beuaty of this life and also the dark and awfulness of it.  She called it - The Brutiful Life.  I think this so describes the life we have. At time it is rich and full and at times it can be bleak and full of sadness and fear. It can be both of these at once; beauty and brutality becoming friends - standing side by side as we journey though them.

So I decided and began. I hoped to share a little of the impact that friendship has on us as we travel on. Having a good friend who is faithful and kind and cares is a real blessing. Each friend in my life brings their own uniqueness which enriches me and us as a family. A good friend is a blessing, a gift from God and sometimes we forget to see this and so forget to acknowledge to them that each is loved and each is valued. I wanted to share this too.

I shared the few and simple words but am certain I fell way short to express fully. Words sometimes do not explain what the mind and heart hold.

So, when I look back and then look forward I see a similar story unfolding in my mind and yet the picture is quite different.

This present  road and the journey I have in my mind  is far more rich and 3D. I am no longer alone . Though the road is dark at times and the light is unclear.  Though I stretch out my hand to feel the way and regularly call out , " are you still there Lord? How can you care about me, the sinner I am" .
Though the landscape might be full and lush and  also  dark and full of uncertainty and even danger.There is a very real richness and depth to the road - the journey.
Although my journey is not complete it has taken on depth and life. Jesus no longer stands way of but he walks beside me; carrying me at times and showing the way with his spirit and his word. His life fashions the pathway and the way to go. I have a feeling of safety and gravity that eluded the first"speech" so long, long ago.

So as I celebrate and enjoy my birthday, I celebrate and enjoy each person who has blessed me along the journey ; the Brutiful Life I have. God is so kind and generous in giving friends to us and I am especially blessed with people who are just lovely, kind, generous with themselves, wise and fun. Each has a uniqueness that they bring in relationship and each has given something of themselves that they might not even realise but that has blessed me and our family. So as I celebrate I truly celebrate life God has given in all its depth . Thanking him above all else.

>