59 1/2

Today, I quietly celebrated my half birthday. Yes, you read that right. Me, a grown adult—with bills to pay, kids in college, and a Costco membership—celebrating his half birthday. And you know what? It was awesome.

There was no cake, no balloons, no fuss made on my behalf (though that would’ve been nice). Just me, quietly smiling at the absurdity of being 59-and-a-half. I felt like a kid proudly announcing they’re “six and three-quarters” because every fraction counts. And it does.

Sometimes we forget that life isn’t measured only by the big milestones—birthdays, graduations, weddings, retirements. Life happens every day, in the tiny half-steps and in-between moments that make up most of our days.

Henri Nouwen nudges us with this wisdom: “Celebrate your life. Celebrate it whole, including its sorrows and pains, because it is only in the full embrace of life that you can discover the God who is in you now.”

As you may know, Anamesa means “between,” as in the space between our coming and going where God shows up. Not just at the finish line with streamers and confetti, but in every fraction of the journey we’re on. That’s a reason to celebrate!

Remember, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). This day. Today. Not the someday when we finally have it all figured out, but now.

God isn’t waiting around for your “big days” to cheer you on. God has already snuck into your morning, awaken your heart, and whispered, “Happy you-day. You’re still here. You’re still mine.” Now, it’s up to you and me to whoop it up and commemorate.

So yeah, I don’t think it’s that ridiculous to celebrate a half birthday. As G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.”

​Cake or no cake, balloons or no balloons, God’s already throwing the party. The least we can do is show up. And at my age, I’ll take whatever reason I can get—even half a reason—to crash it.