To Make Much Of...

I kept thinking of that phrase "to make much of" yesterday. I knew I had heard it somewhere before, so I did a google search, and it's from the chorus of a Steven Curtis Chapman song:

I wanna make much of you, Jesus
I wanna make much of Your Love
I wanna live today
To give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I wanna make much of Your mercy
I wanna make much of Your Cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of You
- Steven Curtis Chapman "Much Of You"

During the same search, I came across this article talking about how viewing love as making much of someone is flawed. While I kind of agree with some of his points, I think that a way that we can love and show appreciation for each other is by making much of one another.

I bring this up because I felt "made much of" yesterday. I turned the ripe old age of 27 years old yesterday, and I was a little disappointed that I hadn't decided to take the day off (it's not like I had anything else planned). In my family growing up, everyone was specialy on their birthday. We had a red plate that greeted you at breakfast with "You are special today" written on it. My dad would cook whatever you wanted for breakfast, and then my mom would cook whatever you wanted for dinner. For dessert, you would get your favorite cake (or giant cookie), and after everyone sang "Happy Birthday" and you blew out your candles, you got to open your gifts. As my birthday approached this year, I was a little sad knowing that I wouldn't have any of that. I didn't have any of that last year for my birthday, but I was so busy with a project at work that was on a ridiculously fast schedule that I barely noticed my birthday passing by. Excluding last year, this was the first year since I moved out on my own that I wasn't going to be at home for my birthday. I took off on Friday April 9, 2004 (my first birthdy in Waco) to head home for my birthday, and it was on a weekend for the next two years.

So, I show up at work at 8:00 (I took an extra half-hour to enjoy the morning) to begin the agony of working on my birthday. As I log into my computer, I see an email from the Director of Engineering wishing me a happy birthday (it turns out to be a form e-mail that he sends out to everyone but with their names changes, but it was a nice gesture). As the morning passes, more birthday wishes start to trickle in either by email or in person. At lunch, my office mate brought in some homemade chocolate chip cookies to share (he also sent out an email to everyone on our floor announcing the arrival of the cookies and that it was my birthday), so thus began another stream of birthday wishes and the slow disappearance of the cookies. During the day I got an email from a group of engineers, that I worked with last year, with a couple of scanned coupons attached for dentures and a motorized scooter (I replied back that they would go great with my coupons for reading glasses and hearing aids). I also periodically checked up on Facebook to see my friends sending their birthday wishes. By the end of the work day, I was pleasantly satisfied with all of the attention that I was given by my friends and coworkers.

Wednesdays are my long day of the week because after spending 9 hours at work, I then go straight to church to help out with children's choir and teach RA's. I was kind of dreading going to church yesterday because my 1st and 2nd grade boys can be a handful, to put it nicely (or just irritating to put it bluntly). Last week when I told my RA's that my birthday was this week, one of them asked excitedly "are you going to bring cupcakes?!?". At first I brushed off this suggestion because it was MY birthday, and why would I bring cupcakes for MY birthday? I had been working on a lesson to teach, but I decided Tuesday that I would just take it easy for the evening. I picked up some of these individual microwavable Betty Crocker chocolate cakes as an activity for us (the kids did all of the mixing and microwaving on their own, with adult supervision of course). I took the kids to use the microwave in two groups, and as I came back with the second group, the first group had turned out the lights in the classroom, and as I walked into the room, they jumped out and yelled "surprise!". It was so great! While we enjoyed our snacks, we watched "A Snoodle's Tale", which is one of my favorite VeggieTales videos. The kids surprised me again when they sat through the 15-minute segment without hardly saying a word. The only words uttered was an insightful observation about the video. I didn't know what to do with myself. Just when I thought that I had gotten stuck with 6 little terrors, they go and impress me like that.

I finally got home at about 8:00 and was welcomed on my computer with an e-card from my friends in my Sunday school class and a few more birthday wishes on Facebook. After a little while, my parents and little brother called to wish me a happy birthday (my big brother called me while I was at church). Looking back I think it's funny how growing up, my family was the first to wish me a happy birthday, but this year they were the last. But it's still good because it was a great way to end the day.

Nothing makes you feel more loved and appreciated than to be made much of.