March Is My Birthday Month

04 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Tribute

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68 years old, aquamarine, bighearted, birth flower, Birthday Month, birthstones, bloodstone, born day, celebrate, daffodils, gift from God, honest, loving, March, March 6, moody, music lover, new beginnings, observant, party, rebirth, spirng, sympathetic, traveller, Women's History Day, Women's History Month

Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change. – James 1:17, TPT

March is my birthday month. The 6^th of March is my birthday. God willing, this year I will turn 68.

What generally has been said about people who were born in March is true about me. I am moody. I am observant. I love to travel. I love music. I am artistic/imaginative. I am bighearted and sympathetic. Once I love someone, I love that person forever. Lastly, I thrive on love.

I usually don’t celebrate my birthday like most people do, but this year I not only plan to celebrate my birthday but also plan to celebrate the entire month of March, as much as I possibly can. I am very thankful to God for allowing me to see another March, hopefully, another birthday, and March’s entire 31 days.

Historically speaking, because of its association with the first day of spring, March was originally the first month of the year in older versions of the Roman calendar. In the past, March 1^st was New Year’s Day. Today, many cultures and religions still celebrate the beginning of the new year in March. In fact, the British Empire and its American colonies still celebrated the New Year in MARCH until 1752.

Additionally, March is the only month of our current 12 months that was named after a Roman god. March got its name from the Roman god Mars (the god of War).

As far as birth flowers and birthstones are concerned, March’s birth flower is the daffodil. Daffodils symbolize rebirth and new beginnings, and the daffodil virtually is synonymous with spring. March’s birthstones are aquamarine and bloodstone, which symbolize courage.

Nationally speaking, March is Women’s History Month. March 8^th is Women’s History Day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME ON MARCH 6^th!

Happy Birthday to . . . Me!

05 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Praises and Thanks

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67 years old, adding year, another year, blessing me, Body, born day, celebrate, God, happiness, happy, Happy Birthday, Life, loved, March 6, my birthday, peace of mind, praise, priceless gifts, soul, thank

¹O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. ²You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. ³You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. ⁴You know what I am going to say before I even say it. ⁵You both precede and follow me and place your hand of blessing on my head.

⁶This is too glorious, too wonderful to believe! ⁷I can never be lost to your Spirit! I can never get away from my God! ⁸If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. ⁹If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, ¹⁰even there your hand will guide me, your strength will support me. ¹¹If I try to hide in the darkness, the night becomes light around me. ¹²For even darkness cannot hide from God; to you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you.

¹³You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. ¹⁵You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! ¹⁶You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!

^17-18How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!

. . .

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. ²⁴Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. ~ Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24, TLB

Today, I just want to praise and thank God for adding another year to my life. I also want to say happy birthday to me.

I might not be the richest person in the world or one of this world’s leaders, but I have happiness, peace of mind, and the gift of life. Thank you, God, for blessing me with such priceless gifts. On my birthday, I praise You for giving me so many priceless things to celebrate. Once again, I say happy birthday to me.

March 7 & 8 Have Dampened My Birthday

04 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Heartbreak

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bedridden, birthday, born day, Clarence W. Drayton, dad, death, festive, Heartbreak, hurting, joyless, jubilant, March 6, March 7 & 8, oldest son, Olumuyiwa Ade Keen, racked with pain, ruined, sad reminders, sorrow, struggling

When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you’ll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You’ll no longer be so full of questions. ~ John 16:21-23a, MSG

Around this time each year, as March 6 approaches, I begin agonizing. I am not struggling because March 6 is my birthday. Moreover, I am not struggling because I am afraid of getting older. I welcome old age.

I am struggling because, since 1996, what should be a joyous occasion for me has been dampened by my thoughts of the now two sad events that closely follow my born day. These two events involve my dad and my oldest son.

The day after my 45^th birthday, which was in 1996, my dad died. Then last year, two days after my 66^th birthday, Ade became bedridden. He died in Kindred Hospital – Greensboro just two days after his 45^th birthday. For these reasons, I am not looking forward to my birthday.

Although I am certain that my dad and my son are in Heaven, this assurance is not what first comes to mind. Before this year’s birthday, I used to hurt so much from the reminder that another anniversary of my dad’s passing was drawing near.

Today, I am racked with a triple dose of pain, and that is because, in addition to the pain that was triggered by my dad’s last-day reminder, the pain that was triggered by Ade’s final-hospitalization reminder doubled once thoughts of the upcoming first anniversary of his May 2^nd death manifested. In other words, I am truly hurting.

The pain I feel today is why I will not be in a celebratory mood on March 6. To be honest, I am not sure if I will ever have a truly festive born day, again.

March 2015 . . . The First Eight Days

02 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Praises and Thanks

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“old man” nature, cream of the crop milestones, God's family, happy birthdays, March 1, March 6, March 8, natural born day, new-man nature, parents' family, physical birth, physically alive, physically born, simplicity and complexity, spiritual birth, spiritual born day, spiritually alive, spiritually reborn, water baptism day

He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. It is through his Son that we have redemption — that is, our sins have been forgiven. He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. ~ Colossians 1:13-16, CJB

But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God,not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God. ~ John 1:12-13, CJB

You crown the year with your goodness,
your tracks overflow with richness. ~ Psalm 65:11, CJB

I mentioned in my last blog posting that during the first eight days of March I experienced some additional milestones in my life. That is why beginning yesterday (March 1^st) and continuing through March 8^th, I will be celebrating these milestones, which began with my spiritual rebirth and the Spirit washing me clean with God’s Word. This milestone probably actually happened on February 28^th of 1965, as it was on this day that I was led by the Holy Spirit to give my life to Jesus Christ. However, the magnitude of my decision to confess I needed a Savior did not fully register with me until the very next day, which was March 1, 1965. This is the day my spiritual new birth became a reality—felt genuine to me. Additionally, this week I will be celebrating my physical birth on Friday. I was physically born on March 6, 1951. Lastly, on Sunday I will be celebrating my water baptism or public outward expression of the Holy Spirit’s inward work. My water baptism took place on March 8, 1965.

These milestones are addressed in my above illustrated Birthday Haiku graphic. They also are noted in the same graphic by the numbers 50 (my spiritual birth years) and 64 (my natural birth years).

It is such a wonderful blessing that in the month of March God planned for the most important days of my life to happen. It is amazing how He planned for me to become spiritually alive (spiritually reborn into God’s family), saved and justified, as well as planned for me to become physically alive (physically born into my parents’ family). These born days are why, for me, the words the prophet Jeremiah speaks are all that more applicable to my life. Jeremiah writes:

For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says Adonai, ‘plans for well-being, not for bad things; so that you can have hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11, CJB

There can be no doubt that being able to commemorate these two most important days of my life (spiritual and physical born days) is part of God’s plan for my well-being. He not only allowed both days to happen in the same month but also He allowed them to happen within a matter of days. That is why it is clear to me that God put my two born days in March to help me better understand both the simplicity and complexity of my “old man” and “new man” natures, primarily by their juxtaposition.

I am so grateful to God to have clustered so many of my milestones in close proximity of one another. Without doubt, the milestones on the 1^st, 6^th, and 8^th of March are the cream of the crop! Thank You so much, Father God, for these rich and abundant blessings!

Shalom . . . . .

HAPPY BORN DAYS to me (March 1 and March 6)! HAPPY WATER BAPTISM DAY (March 8)!