All Weekend Long

Maribeth Pippenger, a longtime friend who lives in Kansas now (she and her husband, Milt, were in a small group that was important to us in Longmont, Colorado, 37 or so years ago), wrote one of my favorite Facebook birthday greetings:


A very happy birthday to you, Mark. All day. All weekend. Spread the celebration over several days and let us enjoy them with you on your blog!


In a way I've followed her advice. Evelyn and I ate brunch at First Watch Cafe this morning after church. I signed up for their e-mail promotions some time ago, and one of the perks is a coupon for a free meal on your birthday. Today was the day to redeem the coupon!


The rest of the day was typical Sunday. Sang with the worship team at the Blended Service at 9:30. After lunch, came home to do some desk work (read two proofs and wrote a draft for one editorial) before going to the grocery store and then getting the lawn mowed before Sixty Minutes and supper.


But I decided to use today to repeat and reflect a bit on some of my favorite Facebook birthday greetings. 

The cake pictured here was one of them, included in a greeting from the other side of the world.


Two of my favorite greetings:

I love working with you, I love laughing with you, and I love being your daughter!

Happy Birthday to the best father-in-law a girl could ask for. You make us smile, you encourage us with your kind words, you delight in your family and we feel your love.

A couple that are encouraging as I think about my work:

I'm so indebted to you for helping me do some writing. Thank you for all you do to advance the kingdom of God.

Thanks for committing your life to the church.

Keep up the great job at Christian Standard.

Some of the greetings caused me to stop and take stock of my life:

I know this is a great period of time in your life and I hope you enjoy each moment!

May this be the best year of your life!

May this be the most productive year of your life!

And one poster, a friend who was in the youth group at Central Christian Church in Waukegan, Illinois same time as me in the late sixties, wrote this:

Many happy returns on the day of your birth. May sunshine and gladness be given. May God, in His mercy, prepare you on earth for your beautiful birthday in Heaven. Remember saying this in the pre-Sunday School service at Central?

Yes, indeed I do remember the whole church reciting the verse as those with birthdays that week went forward and deposited their offering in a little plastic bank during each week's Sunday school opening assembly. Wow, I wonder if anyone reading this goes to a church where they still do that!

My birthday celebration will extend one more day. The people in the magazines group at Standard are taking me to lunch tomorrow. I'll bring donuts to share with the whole office. And Jennifer's coming to town on work business and wedding business, and she wrote to say she's bringing me a present! We're saving some birthday cake to eat with her. And THAT will be the last day of my four-day birthday.