This weekend my husband and I are celebrating our 40th birthday and I have spent some time planning our party. One of the joys of planning your own party is that you can choose the music that will be played. For some of the party, we will have a live band playing, but after that, we will take it up one or two gears and really celebrate with all our friends.

I am so grateful to God for the opportunity to celebrate such an occasion with our loved ones, specially after the pain and turmoil of these last few months. Sometimes as Christians we can become so over-focused on the spiritual weight of our trials that we lose the joy of having Christ in our lives. Yes, when Jesus said follow me, he also asked us to pick up our cross and go where he leads us to, but in that there is also room for joy and celebration. It is good to be thankful and acknowledge the countless blessings that many of us enjoy. I don’t want to be the kind of Christian that only keeps Jesus on the driving seat of my life when I am facing a crisis and I have nowhere else to go. I want Jesus to be with me through the bad times and the good, and he will surely be with me and my husband as we party this weekend.

I just wanted to share with you a song which I have included in the dance play-list I have put together for the party. The 4th of July will be a celebration day for many people for different reasons, so if you are celebrating this coming weekend and you are finding it hard to get in the mood because of the current economic tension, listen to this song and as you dance to it, shake off all the anxiety and worry of these last few months.

I look forward to a good party and I pray to our Heavenly Father that as I celebrate, I do not let go of the knowledge that the joy of the Lord is my strength, through the bad times and the good ones too. Apart from Him, I can do nothing worth shouting about.

Enjoy!