Today is my friend Genesis’ birthday. Genesis lives on Grand Bahama, but she is celebrating her fifth birthday in Canada. Five. Five is big enough to help with dishes, clean your room, learn lots of Bible verses, have the most important character traits already instilled, to be completely free of sin and to have a little sister. Five is small enough to fit in a very small living room tent, have tea parties with teddy bears, be unaffected by peer pressure (sometimes) and to still be moldable in some key areas.
So Happy Birthday, Genesis! Today’s post is for you!
G is for GOD. He is always first, at the top of the list, the BIG deal in your life that you will never forget in any big choice you make. Keep him first (Matthew 6:33)!
E is for EXCELLENCE. Genesis, never settle for doing a sloppy job. Never measure yourself by others around you, because the world is full of people who are doing sloppy jobs. Always give every job the very best that Genesis has to give. At the end of every job, ask yourself, “Is this the best I can do?” Never worry that it might not be good enough for someone else if it is your best. If it is your best, you have done it well. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
N is for NICE. Being nice is more important than you think. You should always be nice because God has told you to treat other people the way that you would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12). But, along the way, if you can make this golden rule a part of your everyday life, lots of very “nice” blessings will come your way. I promise. I know this!
E is for EXAMPLE. An example is kind of like a sample of something; kind of like the little sample of cake you might get at the supermarket. You try it and, if you like it, you might buy the whole cake. Lots of people around you are samples for you. You are trying them out, seeing if you like how they talk and how they act…seeing if you want to be like them. Genesis, always choose good people when you are looking for examples. Try to be like women of God. Try to be like your mom. And remember, too, that Legacy is looking at her big sister, Genesis, for her sample. And she loves what she is seeing. She wants to do everything just like you do it. So be sure that when you are her sample of what a little girl should be, you are leading her to be like Jesus. Be a little sample of Jesus for her (Galatians 2:20)! Then she will want to buy the whole “cake”!
S is for SILLY. Be a little silly sometimes. Every five-year-old should be. In fact, all of us should find some whimsy in our days because laughter does good just like a medicine (Proverbs. 17:22). Now I know you do not usually like medicine, but you will like this medicine.
I is for IMAGINATION. It takes a good imagination to think about yourself as somebody’s wonderful wife and as a mother to some beautiful children. But one day you will be! Decide right now what kind of wife you want to be…a wife of a faithful Christian man, one who obeys her husband and loves her children enough to stay at home and raise them up for the Lord and enough to spank them when they are disobedient and enough to take care of them when they are sick. Picture yourself as a woman who feeds lots of people at her table and who loves to go to worship at every chance. Just imagine yourself as this woman, Genesis, and you will start to be her (Titus 2:3-5)!
S is for SERVICE. I want you to be great. You are smart and you are learning where to look when you want to know something. You can be anything you want to be. But Jesus said that the person who is truly the greatest is the one who is a servant (Matthew 20:27). So start now. Look for older people who drop something and you run and pick it up for them. Find moms who need you to run and get a diaper and you be the runner. Bake cookies with mom and take them to the visitors who come to worship. Help Daddy by going to get him a cool glass of water when he is working outside. Help Legacy pull on her sweater or help mom by opening the door for her when her hands are full. Just look for ways to be a servant and you will be looking for ways to be great!
So Happy Birthday, Genesis. Five is a great age for you. Just the right one.
