A day to remember...

As a kid, birthdays in the Stallings household were a BIG deal!  We honestly celebrated them for a week at a time, and I felt like the most special kiddo on the planet.  This birthday awesomeness sort of created a compulsive need in me to "shine bright like a diamond" forever and a day, and I became Little Miss Entitled to All Things Good and Shiny and The Queen of I Don't Have to Do Anything I Don't Want To Do Today.  Needless to say, that need to be celebrated is difficult to grow out of, and I probably never will, but God is really great at tempering that aspect of my personality.

I learned a valuable lesson about sharing my birthday 12 years ago... 

I will never forget it- I was in Biology class working on a lab with my best friend Meg (and Kirk was actually sitting right across from me).  The principal's voice was heard across the entire school as we he instructed all teachers to stop teaching and to turn on their TV sets.  Now, for a student to hear that, you'd think it would cause a spontaneous eruption of dance, but it sent chills up and down my body... "What's the deal?  Why are all of these kids checking out of school all of a sudden?"  My friends and I got teary-eyed as we watched the footage of the World Trade Center being crashed into.  My next thought was, this is the worst birthday ever. 

To this day, my birthday is still one of the most exciting days of the year for me, but 9/11/2001 forever stays in my mind.  My heart grieves for those who needlessly lost their lives as they were simply working or traveling, and I pray that God will continue to comfort and restore those who are left to pick up the pieces.

9/11... A great day and a not-so-great-day all rolled into one.

Fast-forward to 9/11/2013- A day that I have been excited about for weeks, because it's my first birthday overseas and as a mommy.  I didn't realize, however that those two changes in my life would cause me to have a birthday that was... let's just say... different than expected.  Remember Little Miss Entitled?  Well, she made an appearance today.

As Kirk worked hard to plan our adventure, we experienced frustration throughout the day as we passed our crying baby across the table at the restaurant, got turned away at places for dessert, because they wouldn't serve families (due to alcohol being served there), and as various shopping places closed waaaaay earlier or opened later than we're used to. 

We got home tonight after what was honestly a stressful birthday, but it was no one's fault except for the expectations held inside Little Miss... Micah cried as we tried to put her to bed, and as things began to calm down, and we were about to cuddle up to watch a movie, Kirk told me he was not feeling well.  The travel, busyness of international transitioning, and being a dad hit him hard-tonight!  Man, this day- oh, how I love my birthday, and oh, how I hate learning to share my birthday love with those around me...

So here I am, up at 11:37 pm as Kirk and Micah are sound asleep in our room, and I am thankful.  I am thankful that Kirk chose to take care of himself and lay down instead of staying up to satisfy my expectations.  I am thankful that my 11-week-old gift from God is finally calm.  I am thankful that God has used this funny chain of events to teach me a valuable lesson... It's not about me.  Even on my day, the love has to be spread around.