Birthday Cake?

Philippians 1:3-4

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,

To all whom offered there greetings of birth: 

Okay I know that is a weird way of saying that, but this is for you: To all of you because there are too many of you! (which is a huge blessing!!!!) It is so amazing to know I am not forgotten, and I am loved. Even if you just saw the little notice up in the right hand corner that “Kate Ziegler has a birthday today!” on facebook and you took the time to simply put, “Happy Birthday!!!!” THANK YOU!!!! You are a friend for a reason and it may seem simple to you to type those simple words, but as I scan my profile and look at all of you who posted, not one of you went unnoticed. You remembered me (even if it was prompted by facebook) and you took the time (that is something I am not always good at). As I looked at your simple words I thought about you, which changed the words and made them more complex. I thought of what impact you have had on my life, and how you became to be my friend on facebook. Whether it was meeting you in grade school, culinary arts school, CUNE, Seminary, Through Church, in China or in Europe last year, you hold a place in my memory and the shaping of who I am this year and for years to come. I thank God that he not only calls us to Him in baptism but to community too! 

After the whole Birthday chaos had settled down, I had some time to call my mother and father and talk with them a bit. I was sad because I missed them. I realized that sometimes birthdays are just difficult because you are made aware of the reality of another year. The woman who carried me for nine months, changed my diaper for probably three years and made my birthday cake for about 25 years was only connected to me by a phone call (which I know is more than what some others have). It seems difficult to separate my special day of birth from the woman who labored to bring me into this world, and the two who labored to send me out into the world (a.k.a. The Parents). I thought about how from the moment I was born I have experienced a series of separations. First they cut my cord; separating me from my direct line to my mother, then I began to grow up and realized that friends were way cooler than my parents. Then, I moved away and realized that I needed my parents but what I had were friends. When I started loosing my friends I began to realize how friends too can be taken for granted and how life is short. One day I know I will loose both my parents and I know I will have dear friends to lean on. I will have close friends that God has given to me to run to, and what is more important is that I have Christ who underwent the ultimate separation for us.

I’m so thankful for the friends I have, the friends I have lost, and the friends I have yet to make. I pray that God would keep me ever mindful of the reason they cut that cord when I was a baby, and the reason I had to leave the house of my mother and father. I am connected to my parents in a much deeper sense than just a call on the phone, and with many of you I hold that same connection. This birthday I remember the gift of friends with their own unique stories and walks of life who come from all different parts of the world. Friends I would not have made had my parents not allowed me to venture beyond what they knew to be safe and what they understood. Friends who taught me words like "totes" "could do" and "dunzo."  Friends who make me feel loved, friends who impress upon me the importance of faith, and friends who impact my life in such a way that allows me to carry them with me, even when they are gone.   

I thank God for you all and your words. I thank God that he has made you to be who you are, and that he is making me who I am to be, influenced by the graces of His good people. Seriously!!!!! You have no idea how precious your words were to me (because they came from YOU!!!!!) Thank you!

Love Katie 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-11

The Value of a Friend

Two are better than one,

Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls,

For he has no one to help him up.