On Tuesday, September 13th, 1988 I was born. Today, twenty-eight years later, I’m writing this with a grateful heart! Birthdays have always been special to me, and I still get excited like a kid when my day comes up!

Some of you who read this may not know, but I also share this birthday with my twin brother, who I’ve featured on my blog before with #ThoughtsHeChanged. We were close in the womb together, and we’re still close today, with a unique bond. I always sit and think about the grace God has shown me when celebrating another birthday, He has been faithful to me from the moment I was born. Faithful to the point that without it, one of us could’ve been dead.

My brother and I were premature babies aka preemies, born in seven and a half months, and we ended up in the ICU. We needed to gain more weight and be in good condition in order to go home. While we were in the ICU, my mother had a dream, where she was in church praying. A man simply walked up to her and said these chilling words: “I only wanted one.”

After that, she immediately began to speak against that and woke up. When she woke up, she got up out of her bed with determination and walked over to where we were. She was still recovering after giving birth mind you, and wasn’t supposed to move, so she had a nurse watching her heavily. Amazingly, she was able to inch over to where we lay, stretch forth her hands towards the both of us, and declared in prayer that none of our lives would be taken! RIGHT after she prayed that prayer, the nurse noticed that she was up and yelled at her for being up. Can you say amazing?!

My brother and I, with a full head of hair!

I encourage you to practice remembering the ways that God has revealed His grace in your life. Let it increase your faith and love for Him in the present. Remind yourself that there has never EVER been a moment in your life that you haven’t been loved by anyone. That someone is Christ, who made a promise to His people, to never leave nor forsake you! He’s the only one that can fulfill that promise to you.

Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes, it means so much to me!