Facing my birthday with purpose and joy, (lessons from a martyr)

Jim Forest via Flickr, licensed cc.

Today is the Feast Day of Justin Martyr. By some coincidence, 18 centuries later, it also became my birthday! I have an entire article written about St. Justin and you can read it here.

Who was Justin Martyr?

Justin was a Greek, born in 100 AD in what is now the West Bank. He was greatly influenced by pagan philosophy when he was growing up. But in his 30s he had a conversion to Christianity. He wrote and traveled much to convert others to his new faith. Eventually, he was martyred under the authority of Rome.

Several of St. Justin’s works survive to this day and you can read them here.

Justin’s conversion

In his writing, The Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, Justin wrote about the influence an older Christian had on him. He met the elderly Christian in Ephesus, walking along the shore. The old man talked about Jesus and excitedly explained how He fulfilled all the prophecies of the past. As he talked Justin says,

“Straightway a flame was kindled in my soul,” he writes, “and a love of the prophets and those who are friends of Christ possessed me.”

Justin is probably best known for his description of the mass, which is the same as today. You can read that in part here.

Birthday thoughts

When I first heard how big a deal 6 7 is in today’s culture, I got a little excited about my birthday this year. I will be 67.

I have had quite a few changes getting through to this year’s birthday. I left one homeschool co-op when it failed to be a good fit for me any more. Now I’m starting a new one so that my granddaughter will have a place to socialize, make friends, and continue the co-op experience she has had since she was 3 years old.

I’m playing my flute a lot more and people appreciate it. This is a big deal to me. I appreciate every second, every moment, every rehearsal, concert and mass I am allowed to play for. I will never take that for granted again after the devastating experience I had after the pandemic.

Physically I feel actually really good. I have had no problems with my knees at all because I keep doing my exercises!

Probably the biggest change has been welcoming a new grandchild and watching her a few days a week, while continuing to homeschool my other granddaughter. It’s been challenging, but I am so blessed to be able to help their parents out and to be part of their lives.

I helped my daughter out quite a bit with her senior year of college, but it was totally worth it. She is an amazing artist doing beautiful work. With a degree behind her, she will have momentum in her career.

My final biological child is turning 21 this week. That’s a little hard to take in.

And as a reminder of how blessed I truly am, Mr. Pete and I went on vacation with all six of our children, three lovely daughters-in-law, three cute grandkids, and one boyfriend (Rosie’s). We swam, and ate, and visited and explored. Life doesn’t get much better than that.