The Beauty of Another Birthday

Written By Carol McLeod

It’s my birthday tomorrow … and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it!

Now … I am not telling you so that you can buy me a gift or send me a card … that’s not the reason at all.

I am telling you it is my birthday because I want to give you a gift!

I actually want to give you 69 gifts … one that represents each year of my very young life!

I can’t wait to tell you all of the things that I love about life … and I am hoping that you will embrace these reasons as well.

So … here we go … are you ready? Get ready to fall in love with life all over again … whether it is your birthday or not!

1 – I love walking outside and drinking in God’s creation.

2 – I love listening to music all year long … but especially at Christmas time.

3 – I love holding babies and playing with children.

4 – I love reading a good book every night at bedtime.

5 – I love cooking for my family and friends.

6 – I love watching a classic movie – made in the 1940’s or 1950’s – with a happy ending.

7 – I love reconnecting with my high school and college friends.

8 – I love thinking about my childhood and all the lessons I learned during those years.

9 – I love praying for people who reach out to me with their prayer requests.

10 – I love decorating for Christmas.

11 – I love teaching the Word of God.

12 – I love going to the beach.

13 – I love having girlfriends who are really more like sisters.

14 – I love looking for the ordinary miracles in life.

15 – I love a good devotional book that directs my heart toward God.

16 – I love celebrating people … whether it is their birthday or not.

17 – I love being with my 5 children on any day of the year.

18 – I love the changing colors of the leaves in the fall.

19 – I love fresh, clean sheets on my bed.

20 – I love holding my husband’s hand.

21 – I love hearing the laughter of children.

22 – I love going to church and singing the songs of faith that thousands of sung before me.

23 – I love driving through the mountains and gasping at the creative genius of God.

24 – I love dreaming new dreams and setting new goals.

25 – I love children’s books.

26 – I love studying the Bible.

27 – I love Mobile, Alabama.

28 – I love making crafts with my granddaughters.

29 – I love playing H.O.R.S.E. with my grandsons.

30 – I love making the recipes that have been passed down in my family for generations.

31 – I love choral music.

32 – I love writing books.

33 – I love planting flowers in the spring and tending them all summer long.

34 – I love my worship playlist.

35 – I love hot summer weather … the hotter the better for this girl!

36 – I love hearing people’s stories.

37 – I love getting on my knees and praying with my hands lifted in the air.

38 – I love a good cry.

39 – I love a beautiful sunset flaming in the Western sky.

40 – I love Buffalo, NY.

41 – I love watching college basketball.

42 – I love listening for God’s voice.

43 – I love playing the piano.

44 – I love raspberry pie.

45 – I love the 4th of July … complete with hotdogs, watermelon and fireworks!

46 – I love buying a new journal on January 1 every year.

47 – I love the first snowfall of the winter.

48 – I love the Carpenters’ Christmas CD’s.

49 – I love the state of North Carolina.

50 – I love going out for breakfast.

51 – I love reading quotes and writing them in my journal.

52 – I love Gershwin.

53 – I love a good laugh.

54 – I love being an alumna of Oral Roberts University.

55 – I love drinking piping hot tea out of my grandmother’s flowered teacups.

56 – I love buying Christmas presents.

57 – I love Israel.

58 – I love mining for gold on the sacred pages of scripture.

59 – I love Edmond, Oklahoma.

60 – I love reading historical fiction … especially about World War II.

61 – I love being a Marmee.

62 – I love traveling and making new friends.

63 – I love drinking unsweetened iced tea with lemon on a hot summer day.

64 – I love Chopin … especially his waltzes.

65 – I love Hawaii … I’ve never been there but I just know if I ever get to visit I will absolutely love it!

66 – I love anything that tastes like pumpkin.

67 – I love a sparkling, clean kitchen.

68 – I love juicy peaches that drip down your chin when you eat them.

69 – I love the Lord and the life He has given to me.

So there you have it … 69 of my very favorite things!

The amazing thing is … while writing this precious list … I realized that I could easily come up with 69 more things that I love dearly.

Life is heartachingly wonderful … and unbelievably short, my friends. Live it well.

Live every day at full throttle … passionately investing yourself in the people, the events, and the plans that God has just for you.

“I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

Etienne de Grellet, Quaker Missionary

We only get to live each day one miraculous time … so roll up your sleeves … open your heart … and dance joyfully into this day.

Out-sing your pain … and whistle while you work.

Smile at the future … knowing that God is already there.


Happy Birthday to me … and to all of you! I love being your friend … your encourager … your coach … your sister … and your voice of faith!


Thanks for listening to my heart this week.  As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me.  And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!

Carol McLeod
Carol says, “I am just a girl who is head over heels in love with Jesus ... passionately addicted to His Word ... and find all of the joy that I need in time spent in His presence." Carol is a Christmas-aholic, loves ACC basketball and the beach! Like all menopausal women, she is overly fond of chocolate and enjoys a good read. She doesn't like cleaning her house and is an expert in carry-out dinners. She hates to shop … loves to jog … and somehow finds time in her busy life to hang out with small children. She is the kind of woman that you could laugh with over lunch, cry with over disappointment and shout with over a victory! But … if you need her official bio … read on! Carol is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. She also hosts highly successful Just Joy! outreaches. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren! Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren!
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