My Iowa Birthday Twin

Birthdays differ greatly when you enter adulthood. Life no longer stops to revolve around you and your whims on that day. I have not been too disenchanted with recent birthdays but I have been disappointed, at times, that birthdays are just another day and work goes on as usual. It was a nice treat this year to not only have my birthday off of work but also to spend it with my relatives. They make your birthday as special as it was in childhood.
I have noticed in recent years my disappointment from often not doing what I want on my birthday. This year, I was able to witness in another lady, who shares my birthday, an attitude of happiness at doing what others want on her birthday.
My Iowan birthday twin is Joanne Peeke. She just turned 71. Joanne is a servant of God and of those around her. I met her on her birthday at her car where she and her 80-year-old husband were preparing to drive to her sister's house early in the morning to mow her yard. She then spent her day taking her sister to the doctor, arguing with her sister's doctor to ensure her proper care, and taking her sister to get an MRI. On her way home from the doctor's visits she stopped to pick up a chocolate malt for her and her husband to enjoy. That was all the celebration they had because her sister is very sick and she cancelled any celebration they might have normally had because she did not want to celebrate her birthday with her sister sick. Joanne cares for others more than herself. I saw evidence of this as I visited her later that evening. She had over 100 birthday cards that had been mailed to her this year. She doesn't give up people easily. She keeps in touch with so many people. She cares for them, loves them, and they love her back.
Two people she cares for are my grandparents. She picks up their kids at the airport when they fly into town. She picks up flowers if their kids, who live far away, order them. She and her husband are skilled in the art of seeing how to help people and doing it. One way she helped my grandparents was by staying with them three years ago on my birthday when my mom was admitted to the hospital there in Iowa with vertigo. Little did they or my mom know at the time that it was her birthday that day as she spent hours in the hospital with them. She loved them more than she loved herself.
I hope to be more like Joanne as I grow in Christ. I hope to serve others and love others with such humility and selflessness. As I thought about my wonderful, 72-year-old, birthday twin a verse which speaks of our Savior came to mind.

"Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mt. 20:28