Speaking in Church

I was asked to speak in church today. Here is the opening paragraph from my talk...

My birthday falls shortly after Christmas. And let me tell you, it’s the worst possible time to have a birthday. Everyone is partied out… and gifted out… and baked out… and nobody feels like putting on another production. So I’ve always felt that in the birthday department I’ve been the holder of the short end of the stick. For our kid’s birthdays, Cecilie always puts up signs that say Happy Birthday and plasters the walls with pictures of them. Well, Pyper came to Cecilie and told her she wanted to make signs for my birdthday. Cecilie gave her some paper and Pyper went to her room and spent a long time making her signs. She finally came downstairs to proudly show Cecilie what she had done. She had about eight or nine pieces of paper with elaborate drawings and decorations all of which said “Merry Christmas Dad.” When Cecilie asked her why she hadn’t written happy birthday, she shrugged and said, “It seems like since we just had Christmas that’s what’s important.” And so you can see, Christmas always has and continues to eclipse my birthday. But this year I learned that there is something even worse than having a birthday right after Christmas, and that is having to give a talk in church on your birthday right after Christmas.