🙌It's the Friday Call to Worship!🙌

My mom is the greatest celebrator. She flies across the world every April to be with us for Easter and family birthdays. We plan celebrations with great intentionality to accommodate our middle son's nervous system disability. He spends 364 days a year anticipating April 9th, when he gets to be the birthday boy. We want him to be able to enjoy as much of it as he can.

Our son lit up on April 8th, when we told him we'd be celebrating him the next day. I stayed up late that night making a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sewer cake. Anticipation overrode his need for sleep, and he started crying from his bed at 2:15am, desperate to start his birthday. We tried everything, but we hadn't slept at all when the sun came up.

We still managed to celebrate, sing, dance, dress up and turn green apples into breakfast half-shells before 8am. (Turtle Power!) The birthday boy and his little brother sprinted the halls, squealing, "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!" During their school day, Mom and I finished preparations for the after-school pizza party and a family trip to a ninja obstacle course. The excitement was palpable. I was nauseous with exhaustion. Joy was triumphant.

Our sweet boy's wiring can keep him from accessing his own basic needs, like sleep. Demands of the world, or his own anticipation, can completely overwhelm him. On his birthday, however, he was "bigger, stronger, and could reach higher things". He didn't have to be anything but six, and it was the best day ever. For all of us.

Joy is triumphant - even while bodies defy, rest escapes, and we just cannot manage the weight of the world. We are raised to a new life in Christ. (Colossians 3:1-4)

We have an opportunity we'll never get back - the chance to use THIS day to worship the King who rode in on a colt, raised up on a cross, walked out of a tomb, and ascended to heaven so joy could reign supreme. You don't have to be anything but His.

Listen to "Joy" by Saddleback Worship.