Happy Birth/Tax Day...

Today is my wife's birthday.

We celebrated yesterday by having some pictures taken at the Botanical Gardens and then having dinner at P.F. Chang's; and although Ava has had better days, Brooke and I really enjoyed it.

Brooke has the misfortune of having her birthday fall on April 15....tax day.

Tax day is not necessarily the best day to be born. It's different from being born on Christmas or New Year's, which are associated with pleasant things like peppermint and confetti. If your birthday is on/near a holiday (or even a regular day), most people are in the mood to celebrate with you.

Tax day is different.

For her entire life, I'm sure Brooke has had these conversations on her birthday:

"Hey, it's my birthday!"

"Congratulations. I owe the government $4000.00."

"I'm sorry. Would you like some cake?"

"Yes."

[not many people turn down a piece of cake, no matter what day it is.]

Before we were married, I have to confess that I would procrastinate getting my taxes done almost up until the very last moment. I had no reason to finish them early. So for me, April 15th loomed like a old, angry woman with a smoker's cough, breathing down my neck. I even had to file for an extension several times, making April 15th an old, angry woman with a smoker's cough, breathing down my neck...who could die any moment; which made her just plain surly.

After our marriage, however, I really wanted to be in the frame of mind to celebrate the birth of my wife without Aunt Marlboro (yes, we had pet names for each other), so I began taking care of my taxes early. This was difficult for me since I had never really done it, but it made Brooke's birthday more special and less tax-related.

I did our taxes this year in February. We had our refund in March. And even though we celebrated last night with the last few dollars of that refund, we celebrated without thinking about taxes a single time.

How many important things do we miss - if only in our hearts - because of something else? How many times has something urgent taken the place of something important?

Are we ready to meet the Lord when He returns? If we want that to be a day of celebration and joy, instead of a gigantic "Tax Day" on steroids, it would be wise for us to make the preparations now, so that we can enjoy it then.

So enjoy tax day/Brooke's birthday today and if you didn't care for today's blog, remember...it's not my fault...it's tax day and you're just in a bad mood.