Many years ago, I had a young woman who worked for me. A single mom, she went out of her way to be nice to me. I made sure she got home each night after work even though it was a drive. I accommodated her when she needed days off and all the things good people do.

One day in the middle of January, she was cleaning the store and had moved one of the cash registers. Underneath the register was a birthday card and envelope that had come from my mom. She looked at me and said “is today your birthday?” I said “yes” and never gave it another thought. Until about an hour later she walked in with a shiny gold bag and a cupcake with a candle in it. She had arranged for some of her friends to sing “Happy Birthday” to me. As she looked at me, she saw the look on my face and said, “it’s not your birthday, is it?”

I would be lying to say it did not crush me to watch this young mom go out of her way to bless me. She was watching me go through a very painful divorce and lots of things were not good in my life. I had only been kidding, but at that point it was a painful moment in my life. Probably one of my top 5 most painful, embarrassing times.

My birthday is really today. July 3rd. I was born in 1955. New Haven, Connecticut.

It has only been in the last 15 years that birthdays got fun again. For many a year I avoided them and the people that went with them.

This year much of my birthday will be spent at work, but with the hope my grandkids will be coming over. In a few days I will have a large celebration with friends and family.

So, why share the young mom story? Because birthdays really have value. For many a year I treated them with disdain and nonchalance. But as a child I was able to spend many of my birthdays in Indian Lake, Lake George or Schroon Lake.

I still am “embarrassed” with that prank. My young friend was an orphan. Her parents had been killed. She lost a lot of her identity and family value in their death. Yep, not one of my finer moments.

My mom used to go all out for our birthdays, and I have shared some stories before on those. She made each of us feel valued. It wasn’t just the presents or the friends, but the special cakes she made each of us.

Life was simpler then. A friend reminded me today of the more civil days. Of the “slower” days. I sense we are headed towards a “restoration of values” seasons. Where people begin to value relationships, friendships and family. I had a number of dreams about people who had passed on last night (As if they wanted to say Happy Birthday to me.)appear. One was my dad. My own brother who never contacts people texted and called last night. Maybe, just maybe, my birthday today is a signpost to a better time, a better season.

Even as I wrote that, I saw workplaces transformed. I saw families restored. I saw hurts and worries lifted and lives made whole. It was like watching a tornado that little “TV sets” that showed various lives and situations. And I felt that the tornado was just gathering speed. People were “turning” on to family and God and His love for them, being caught up in the cyclone of His compassion, in a twister of transformation, elevated higher and higher as it swirled. There was an effect that, as “sets” were turned on the power of the tornado increased and became larger, sucking the surroundings in to its whirlwind of goodness. I pray for its continued spin, as it sets its sights on places of destruction and debauchery.

I hear the celebration of life and all that God intended. As I listened to thunder and watched the lightnings yesterday, they paled in comparison to what my vision revealed. There is a new day coming.

Romans 1:20(AMP)20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification]

Creation is being caught up in praise and worship. Truly there is a sound of the ground emanating. People are talking to me about what they hear when they walk, when they sleep. There is a truly a new day rising.

Today as I celebrate the dreams and hopes of the day God launched me into this earth, it is with the knowledge that He loves me and He loves people. This passage is gaining ground! The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.(Psalm 65:8)

Let us start a new tomorrow today!