Build-a-Jen

A few months ago, my youngest niece decided she wanted to do "Build-a-bear" at the mall for her birthday. I attended...and watched as she carefully picked out the skin of her new best friend..watched as it was filled and fluffed, she and the BAB attendant said "magic words" to make the heart beat a certain way and to proclaim a covenant of loving it as only a 4 year old would know how...Then she chose among hundreds of options how to dress and accessorize her new friend. Yay...Build-a-bear!

38 years and 9+months ago God decided that 2 people who loved each other should come together and create me--Jennifer McCambridge Kelly-Williams. He saw me being fashioned in Mom's womb and decided,"We'll give her a pear shape...first blond but then brunette hair...long, clubby fingers...She'll be smart, she'll be able to sing like an angel, and she'll have a heart for the less-desirable of the world around 1997...She'll be organized and "Type A', but we'll throw in a little bit of an adventure streak that she'll realize now that she's married to...who?...hmmm...Mark Bernard Williams...yes, on October 11, 1997...She won't have any children of her own but she'll learn to love and nurture the Covenant House kids under her care...She'll run and work out and try to make herself into something she'll never be physically but I will love her anyway and try to point her towards the more important things. She'll remember Covenant House kid's birthdays and to clean her house every Saturday and enjoy it because she'll know that being a wife is a wonderful thing...She'll purge "stuff" that hasn't been used in years but hang onto things that have sentimental value...She'll always be trying to improve herself because she loves Me and wants to be her best for Me...and I'll always love her because she is just HER--Jennifer McCambridge Kelly-Williams"...

God "Built-a-Jen" 38 years and a few months ago...and now, today, on my 39th birthday, I can honestly say, "Thank You!" I don't know what the future holds...and I don't NEED to know. All I DO know is that God saw fit to fashion me the way HE wanted so many years ago..and I am thankful today. Thankful for 2 parents who loved each other and raised me the best way that they knew how (There is no handbook for parenting!) Thankful for the 39 years of great and not-so-great memories that have made me who I am today. Thankful that, as of today, I have an opportunity to continue on and impact the world with God's love and care and mercy and grace...

Happy Birthday to ME!