I took this from Elle's post about Birthday's. Elle, I hope you don't mind!. Elle is another one of my blogger friends and her birthday was the day before mine. She celebrated it in style with her husband doting on her. My husband did the same thing. It was very special and it meant a lot to me.

I finally found something that really explains how I feel about birthdays. I have always enjoyed celebrating any and everyone's birthday for as long as I can remember. Even my own. Not for the presents or the attention. But, I believe that birthdays should be celebrated because it is a TRUE celebration that person was born into this world and has graced us with their life. So, thank you Elle for posting this on your blog. Because now, i can finally express why Birthdays mean so much to me.

From Here and Now - Living in the Spirit, by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Birthdays need to be celebrated. I think it is more important to celebrate a birthday than a successful exam, a promotion, or a victory. Because to celebrate a birthday means to say to someone: “Thank you for being you.” Celebrating a birthday is exalting life and being glad for it. On a birthday we do not say: “Thanks for what you did, or said, or accomplished.” No, we say: “Thank you for being born and being among us.”

On birthdays we celebrate the present. We do not complain about what happened or speculate about what will happen, but we lift someone up and let everyone say: “We love you.”

I know a friend, who, on his birthday, is picked up by his friends, carried to the bathroom, and thrown clothes and all into a tub full of water. Everyone eagerly awaits his birthday, even he himself. I have no idea where this tradition came from, but to be lifted up and “re-baptized” seems like a very good way to have your life celebrated. We are made aware that although we have to keep our feet on the ground, we are created to reach to the heavens, and that, although we easily get dirty, we can always be washed clean again and our life given a new start.

Celebrating a birthday reminds us of the goodness of life, and in this spirit we really need to celebrate people’s birthdays every day, by showing gratitude, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, and affection. These are ways of saying: “It’s good that you are alive; it’s good that you are walking with me on this earth. Let’s be glad and rejoice. This is the day that God has made for us to be and to be together.”