Birthday Blessings.

This Thursday my mom will turn the big 5-0. Birthdays are always special, but this one feels especially victorious. She’s made it through a hard year struggling with treatment after treatment, surgery after surgery to combat her metastatic breast cancer.

And so we thought, what better reason to celebrate this milestone than with a surprise birthday party full of friends, family, flowers and good food?

[Beautiful flowers from grown and arranged by Aunt Denise.]

[Our sugar-coma-inducing cupcakes. Aren't they lovely?]

My aunts [my dad's sister and his brothers' wives, and my mother's sister], cousins and I emailed, called, schemed, and prayed for months to plan the party. And then we baked, and cooked, and whipped, and frosted, and decorated, and talked, and laughed.

[The women behind every good party.]

It took a lot of prayer, a lot of planning, a lot of lying through my teeth and maybe more frosting than one body should really consume in one weekend, but we pulled it off. She was surprised!

No one spilled the beans, even though most of the party guests saw her in church yesterday morning. In faith, we refrained from canceling it even though she spent a few days in the hospital last week.

And in faith, we celebrated, thanking God for a beautiful day full of energy and joy and time together.

[The brood: Dad, Mom, Adam, Jacob, Matt.]

[My in-laws.]

[Forever friends.]

[Group hug!]

[The birthday girl!]

It was everything we could have hoped for. I’m a happy, relieved, thankful kind of exhausted.

Maybe you and your family have reason to worry, to wonder what the next few months and years will be like, to think that maybe now is not the time to celebrate. I know how that feels.

But this weekend, all my fear and concern and doubt was replaced by something much more important :

Faith.

Faith to believe that even though it seems like a time to fear the future, tomorrow will be a good day. Faith to believe that life is worth celebrating, even when it’s hard. Faith to believe that He knows our hopes and plans, and He’s working on our behalf.

So, don’t hesitate to celebrate. Do it now. Do it while you can, even if you can’t be sure what today, tomorrow, or next week will hold. Do it together, because family is our best resource for support and strength.

Pray hard. Make memories. Eat everything. And whatever happens, choose to celebrate.