April: A Month to Celebrate!

Do you have a favorite month? I do and it happens to be winding down much too soon. I will be sad to see April checked off my calendar and I will have to wait another 334 days to see it again.

“Why” you ask am I so hung up on April when December seems to be the month everyone really looks forward to?

Don’t get me wrong, I do look forward to December, but April is the month I truly love. Although calendar makers declare that spring starts on March 20, I believe it takes at least 10 more days for the ground to realize that it’s spring and time to start that season of growth.

If you look around you the Tulips and Daffodils have just taken over center stage from the beautiful Hyacinths. The trees are not only pushing out leaves but budding and blooming in an array of whites, pinks, and reds. You cannot walk down the street without noticing the green grass growing, the smell of flowers blooming, and the smiles on the children and families who have finally come out of winter hibernation.

If that’s not reason enough to like April, how about the fact that Easter is celebrated in the month of April almost 80% of the time. The other 20% is in the month of March.

Another very important reason April is my favorite month is that my father, mother, and myself all celebrated birthdays in this month. Moms’ birthday could never land on Easter because it was much too late in the month but my fathers and mine were early in April so the odds for an Easter birthday were great. I do remember that Easter was celebrated on the same day as Dad’s birthday only a couple of times during his life.

My birthday has yet to land on that special day. It is however on the horizon and I have looked forward to that special day for many years. It is getting closer and soon the long awaited Easter of 2023 will finally land on my birthday. That will truly be a day to celebrate!

Growing up in a German/Dutch household, birthdays were always celebrated no matter how old you were. Family and friends were invited over for the traditional birthday cake with candles (no matter how old, you always had candles on your cake). Birthdays are a passing of time, a time to look back and remember when and a time to look forward to the years to come. A time to give thanks and a time to be blessed.

The Bible states in Ecclesiastes 3 that everything has its own time.
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted … a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance …

I don't know about you but I am going to celebrate and dance out the end of April!