I turned Forty Three this month. After the sudden death of my Father in 2024 and my health emergency in 2025, I’m feeling very glad to be alive for another year. Not that I’m not always glad to be alive but sometimes – in all the day to day bustle – it can be easy to forget how fragile and precious life really is. The major life events of the last two years have grounded and humbled me in that way – in a good way. I often find myself thinking of Psalm 39.
“LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”
Psalm 39: 4-5
This year the MCC team surprised me with a literal fruit cake. I’ve had trouble eating oil or fat since my gall bladder was removed so I really appreciated this. They also got a tiny little cake and a box of donuts for everyone else to enjoy.
Literal Fruit Cake
It made me think back to 19 years ago – yes it’s really been that long – when I had my first birthday in Cambodia. A kind person on the MCC team made a chocolate cake to celebrate – which I couldn’t eat due to my dairy allergy. Later, I made my own tapioca birthday cake and then got my first severe case of food poisoning from it. Around the same time the hard drive in my laptop – the first computer I bought myself and I had some pride in that fact – broke and I lost all of the data on it. I think there was some definitely culture shock and loneliness happening as well. This all lead to my first major low point and I remember writing dramatically on my blog that losing my laptop felt like losing part of myself. My older brother replied that it was just a laptop and that I should get it fixed, which was true – I did get it repaired. It’s interesting to reflect back on that so many years and experiences later.
My Child’s Joy is the Best Birthday Present
One of the joys of being a parent isn’t what I get to enjoy myself but rather what I get to enjoy vicariously through my kids. Caleb was such a delight on my birthday. I don’t know if he thought it was his birthday or if he realized that it was mine or if he was just going with the fun – but it doesn’t really matter. He was so thrilled to see the cake, sing the song, help me blow out the candles, and spend time with all the people.
