There is a box of Funfetti cake mix on my counter because today is my 47th birthday, and I am going to take “homemade” cupcakes to school with me. Throw your own party—that’s what my inner 7-year-old tells me.
It’s my birthday!
Now let me back up to last night. A lot of times, people ask me, “How can you always think of stuff to write?” The truth is that sometimes I can’t think of anything.
“I’ll tell you what to write,” my husband said to me last night. “Write about these pictures on the fridge. Write about these people and how much they mean to you.”
Christmas card pictures cover the whole refrigerator door. They’ll come down on Feb. 1, but for now, we enjoy looking at the faces of friends every time we go for food.
It was a good writing idea, and I’m going to listen to that man, even though he said, “I know: ‘Don’t tell me what to write.'” I’m going to show him how mature I am now that I’m 47, and how I can suppress the strong-willed child who lives with in me and who does not appreciate being told what to do.
So there’s this fridge covered in people, and there’s my life covered in people.
People God has been using to build me.
In Ephesians 4:29 (NIV), Paul says:
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Usually I think about Paul’s words as something I should do, but today I am thinking about all the people God has put in my life who read this verse and considered it something they should do.
This is for the friends who have seen what I have needed and have spoken helpful things to me in many a crucial moment.
Sometimes warm, encouraging words.
Sometimes warm, reprimanding words.
Beneficial talk that has helped me grow into a better woman.
How many times has it been you? I’m thinking of all you readers scattered in the United States and even around the globe. You’ve made encouraging comments that have kept me writing or have written me private notes that have reminded me God is working, even when I can’t see it. You’ve been bricks and mortar in the Lord’s hands, speaking words that build.
It’s a good day to look at the faces God has put in our lives and see. We need to see all the little, helpful conversations with these people. Conversations that pile up in a person’s heart.
Imagine I am making cupcakes enough for all of us, and you can come over to enjoy one with a tall glass of cold milk.
And we’ll sit around and thank God for the people He uses to build us.
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett 
