Celebrations 6/6/2021

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

I was struggling with something to write about this week. Then a friend of mine came to me asking me to put some of her heartfelt thoughts into words since she has born witness to my wordiness and for some reason she found that it would serve well in gathering her thoughts.  Whilst I was reading her words, some of my own came to me giving me a sound idea of what to share today.  Talking with this friend of mine gave me a bit of an insight that I felt like I should share.  It was her experience and even more so her reaction to said experience that gave me pause. And in my pause, it occurred to me that she had given me a really valuable lesson.  So, being the nerd that I am, any time I think I learn or truly grasp some tidbit of knowledge that I find truly beneficial then I like to share it. I hope you agree with me and find, though it may be a bit simplistic, that these words trickle into all the tiny hidden the crevices of your spirit and that they stay.

I was in the midst of planning multiple birthday parties. Yes, I say multiple because my husband and daughter’s birthdays just happen to be four miniscule days apart.  Now a man of my husband’s age is usually quite pleased with a party as long as those he loves are there, he has the cake he requested and there is good food. As you can imagine however, for a girl turning 5 the requirements for a quality soiree are more involved. While I admit my daughter is flexible and not overly demanding (other than the cake must be chocolate which I certainly cannot fault her for such an inherited trait) but there must be an appealing theme. Also, decorations for someone of that age are a bit important as well just like making sure the most favorite of friends can attend and the like.  I say all that to tell you that I was very firmly lost in the logistics of planning multiple birthday parties with menus and theming and décor and cakes and other such miscellaneous details when my friend approached me. She asked me to look at her account of an event that she had recently experienced and asked if I being someone constantly writing about one thing or another, would make sure it was well written so she could share her story.  It is at this point that I will shamefully admit that, though I could see that this was important to her and that she really wanted to have it ready to share, I still put it off. I didn’t even read it fully because I had immersed myself in all the things I had to do. I had parties to plan. I had cakes to bake. I had a house to clean. I had a blog to write. I just couldn’t possibly devote time (at least not right away) to such things.  Then she spoke to me again of the follow up to her story.  I decided I needed to really, truly read what she said.  I did and suddenly, things changed.

What she had witnessed was that she, in a very divinely inspired manner, had come upon a fatal car accident and was able to help in many ways, the repercussions of which will likely be felt for years and possibly lifetimes to come.  But what struck me most was how it made her dramatically more grateful, for, well, everything.  The simple act of going out to lunch that could almost be construed as frivolous or unnecessary, thereafter became meaningful and a quality reason to celebrate. She wanted to go out to lunch and celebrate that she wasn’t burying a family member. 

How many of us can say we stop to look at things that way?  I mean while many of us have tragedy, we can likely say that today we can celebrate because for now, I am not in the throes of agony. I can say today I will live a life of joy because I have the ridiculous luxury of planning parties for those that I love. Instead of bemoaning the stress of all we have to do why don’t we take our next meal and look at it as a celebration.  Let’s take our next interaction with anyone we come into contact with and do all we can to show that we are undeservedly blessed and we can rejoice in the fact that we are alive and well as are many of those we love.  Let’s look at the next sunrise or set and revel in the beauty of this spectacular world all around us.  The tiniest event can be a celebration of all those incredible things that we so often take for granted.  Let us take our next drive and be so grateful we can travel from place to place. Let us see any monotonous task and delight in the fact that we are actually able to do it! Her words impacted me, I was taking for granted all I had and murmuring about parties and all it entailed, all the while I have the ability to give gifts! I can gather with loved ones! I can eat cake!  I am not gathering for reasons of sadness but of jubilance! I have so much! I always have so much that I don’t glance at twice. I pray I make every meal, every happening, every moment feel like a party because I can rejoice that there is always so much for which to be grateful! Even when things seem less than joyous I still have so much and truly we all do! If you can leisurely read this blog, you too have so much! Perhaps, as a simple reminder, we should all keep a little confetti in our pockets.