I got a new cell phone over the holidays and changed my phone number. This means that if you had my cell and were using it to call me about work stuff, you can’t do that anymore (hee hee!). I thought that the ringer I chose this time around was particularly appropriate, given my current profession—“When the Saints Go Marching In.”

I guess I’m having a bit of blogger’s block today. Not because there aren’t tons of compelling religious topics to write about—black Muslims vandalizing liquor stores owned by Middle Eastern Muslims in Oakland, CA, the religious state of Europe, a request from an alumna of the Network to write about the Iraq War… you can go on Yahoo! News and read about all of this and more. But they just all seem sort of depressing on this day when the clouds are rolling in over Louisville, when I overslept by half an hour and burnt my oatmeal. This is why I hate winter.

One thing I can look forward to, though, and the only reason I really like the month of January—birthdays!!! I’ve found that January is a particularly good month for good people to be born. Indeed, two of my dear first cousins were born in January (shout out to Liz, who will be 25 tomorrow), as well as CoCo member Carrie Weisbard and David’s father. And of course, the best of all is that my birthday is in January. I will be 25 years old next week.

Now those of you who have read Network Notes for any length of time know that I have a bit of an obsession with birthdays. I’m not sure why, since most people stop caring between the ages of 21 and 40 or so. Perhaps I was traumatized when everyone forgot about my 11th birthday back in 1992. You’d think that I would let go of it after nearly fourteen years. Okay, maybe I haven’t grown up that much.

Honestly, though, I find that birthdays provide an opportunity to celebrate all that God has given each one of us. When you’re a kid, it is all about the gifts. But when we get older, we crave different sorts of gifts—love and community. In a world quick to point out our flaws and failings, we sometimes need friends to remind us of the nature of Christ within us. We need to celebrate God’s good gift of life, and question how we’re going to use it. A bit of cake don’t hurt in this process.

Here in PresbyLand, we get a total of 13 annual holidays. Pretty generous, too. In medieval Europe, I’ve heard that a full third of the year was devoted to various feast days and holy days. Especially in the darkness of winter, shouldn’t we take every excuse we can to bring joy and light into our lives?

So here’s to a happy birthday for all of you. And some cake, too.

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” --John 1:9

Kelsey