“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. ”  Psalm 139: 16 NIV

God is the most wonderful gift giver I must say!  He gives life and breath as gifts to be cherished.  Sometimes He surprises me with gifts I never expected to receive even on my birthday.  And while my family wanted to celebrate on June 3rd another year of my life,   I wanted to celebrate not MY birth, but the “BIRTH” of something special God had just created that day.   I’d love to share a little bit about it with you, and  I encourage you my friend….maybe grab a cup of tea or your favorite refreshing ice-cold beverage, and may you feel uplifted as you read this blog entry.  (By the way, thank you for coming to my blog, as this is my first official blog entry that I started writing immediately after my birthday dinner celebration.  Hoping I am able to post  with a few pictures as soon as possible. I have lots to learn on the technical side of things as a new blogger, but when inspired I will write and post entries.)

My birthday is now just a reflection of a wonderful, blessed, joyous day gone by and I am grateful for having had another birthday to celebrate!  My sweet husband planned a few surprises for me, including dinner at one of my favorite local Japanese restaurants (Sumo in Newbury Park, CA)…but little did he know that I had a “BIRTH” day surprise announcement that I was excited to share with him!

With colorful mylar balloons in one hand and a card in his other hand, Ed gave me a great big hug while I said, “Today, you might think we are celebrating MY birthday, but today my heart celebrates something new that God birthed just today!”  My husband had a curious, but unsure look, sort of like a half-smile on his face, and even put his hand on my belly (LOL!).  With that gesture I said, “Don’t be silly! Not that kind of surprise! I’ll tell you at dinner!”   On the way to Sumo, I was still laughing in the car, thinking how BIG of a surprise that would be for me if I was actually pregnant at MY age—just say my late 40’s!  (By the way, I’ll make it clear, I am not pregnant.)

I was all smiles as we ordered food, and my husband still had no clue what my surprise “BIRTH” day announcement would be.  Both my teen daughters knew why I was all smiles, and well …I really wanted to be the one to share the news with Ed,  but when Hannah, my youngest said a prayer to give thanks for food that would soon be brought to our table, Hannah ended prayer grace with “and Thank you God for my mom’s new blog.”  My innocent teen, quickly  blurted out “Oops! Uh…Amen!”  My husband smiled, and then I looked at him and said, “You have nooooo idea what I went through today to have a blog set up with customized domain name through WordPress! But YAY! Thanking God it was finally birthed today:  heartgiftsofHOPE.com !”  Ed shared a hug of congratulations and said “Happy ‘BIRTH’ day!”

It wasn’t an easy birthing process to set up this blog.  Probably more difficult for me personally because I’m not computer or tech savvy.  To me, it was almost like birthing a baby—with lots of pains throughout the day as I spoke to several “tech support” experts. (I call them “Tech Doctors”)  I just couldn’t understand all the computer lingo! Hannah witnessed the birthing process and she knew I just wanted “my baby” (my blog) and the least possible pain to have it.  (Unfortunately, the “Tech Doctors” from WordPress, GoDaddy and Google had no epidural for me! LOL!)

But in the end because of the God I know, serve and love,  and because of promises from Him that He will equip me/provide for me everything I will ever need to accomplish the work (the labor) He has for me to do, I know He helped me birth this website/blog heartgiftsofHOPE.com for His purposes.  I can do nothing and have nothing without Him! What a joy this is for me—this “new baby”!   To finally have this blog and my first blog entry for His glory—it’s exciting!  This blog exists because of God’s own loving desire to have me share His very own Heart Gifts of HOPE with the world.  I am simply a mom, called to be an ambassador of Good News.  I am called to share HOPE with JOY.  I am  called to share LIGHT  and LOVE.  God sovereignly orchestrated  June 3rd,  for the birthing of my blog (the official “technical” set up of this site).  His orchestration of this special birth is part of every one of the days that His Word says that He ordained for me.

I look forward to encouraging as many people as He would have me reach with HOPE and JOY that He gives me (despite even sometimes being in the midst of the most difficult circumstances I face or have faced.).   You must know that my life is not/has not always been a piece of birthday cake, red roses,  and colorful mylar balloons!  But I do have HOPE and JOY in my heart that no one can steal from me because of God’s heart gifts of HOPE He grants me daily through His Living Promises, His Word to me.  In this blog, may you be touched and inspired to live with abundant joy and hope as I share my life/my family’s life journey founded on Faith and God’s great LOVE for the whole world.   May you gladly receive from God an abundance of Heart Gifts of HOPE with JOY.

Blessings,

Joy (aka “Bea” Joy Christianna Baldoz)