John turned 5

Five year olds like having birthdays - almost forty year olds . . . not so much. I loved celebrating his birthday; it’s my own that isn’t so exciting.

Have you heard the phrase “perma-grin”, which is short for having a permanent grin on your face? It is what you see during hunting season or when someone is newly in love. Perma-grin.

John experienced perma-grin for almost a week. It included the days leading up to his birthday and the day after when we actually had his birthday party. It is also what his father experienced listening to John and his two friends talk during our mini-van ride to Petoskey for mini-golf. Listening to them talk to each other was hilarious. I am amazed at the brazen confidence of four and five year olds. They know a lot – not much of it all that accurate – but accuracy is not required when you are confident.

John knows how to celebrate his birthday. First, he tells everyone. He made sure everyone knew it was his birthday. Now the fact that he wore his “birthday hat” from school the entire day was also a clue that this child was celebrating a special day. He felt it was his right to wear this hat with pride. We encouraged him to consider not wearing it into Applebee’s for his birthday dinner, but he felt differently.

There is something strangely refreshing about his desire for everyone to know it is his birthday. It was a special day for him and he had no trouble acknowledging that, at least for a day or two, he was special and it was OK to draw attention to himself. It wasn’t an egotistical, arrogant, “I’m better than you” expectation; it was the fact it is his birthday – a special and important day for him.

He loved the attention. He loved the fact that it was his special day. The look on his face while we sang “Happy Birthday” to him was priceless. Had we allowed the Applebee’s staff to sing to him when he received his birthday dessert, he would have loved that, too. His parents trumped that one, however. We’d heard them sing already and they lacked some enthusiasm.

I believe God would like us to have more of this type of experience in our relationship with Him. He desires us to experience His attention. He desires us to know that we are special to Him – all the time. We need that attention. We often seek it in other places and find it. But it isn’t the same, because it’s often selfish and therefore false. We draw attention to ourselves by our efforts, behaviors, purchases. But if we find our meaning in our efforts, behaviors or purchases, we will not find what we are looking for. It will be shallow and fleeting.