Happy Birthday to you…

8/29/12 Note:  I wrote this a year ago today…it still applies. Hug those you love. Be grateful for the good in your life. Be Blessed.

August 29^th, 2011 is the birthday of a giant. Yes it is Michael Jackson’s birthday – an amazing talent that we lost too soon. But more personally important to me is the fact that this is the day that my father, Dr. Ephraim Nseabasi Bassey was born, 78 years ago in a small village in Eastern Nigeria. For those of you who have followed My 52 Weeks of Worship journey, you know that he was the primary inspiration for My first 52 weeks.

August 29^th is not only my father’s birthday, but it is also the 2 year anniversary of his funeral. When he passed away (August 24th) so close to his birthday, we noted that his birthday was the first weekend day that his funeral could take place. Some asked us if we really thought that the best day to have his funeral was his birthday but we knew our dad. He believed in synchronicity – that everything happened for a reason –and we knew that he would get a kick out of the full circle that was being created as we prepared to say good bye to him on the same day that 76 years before, he had said hello to the world.

For the past few years, August has never been a particularly great month for me. Every year, I wait for it, brace for it, and know it will be challenging. This August was no different.  But thankfully, it is coming to an end – and I am thankful for the moments of pure joy that punctuated sad memories over the past few weeks, and the people that contributed that joy to my life.

Thankfully the grief of losing so much at the same time is morphing into something else – ever present, and sometimes strong, but not so overpowering that everything else cowers in comparison.

Thankfully, hope makes its appearance more often than sadness.

Thankfully, I am feeling optimistic.

Thankfully, my faith is much stronger and although I still have days where I miss my father so much the tears come, I know in my heart that he is in a better place and that he is interceding on my behalf, and that he continues to cheer for me from now until forever.

Thankfully, I am meeting new people who remind me daily that the journey I am on is worthwhile, and that they are sharing their journeys with me as we support each other in becoming that which we are called to be.

Today, on my father’s birthday, I am thankful.