Birthdays are excellent times to look back on the lives we have lived thus far, and to take stock of what we have gathered to ourselves, the wonders we have seen, the blessings received, and the good moments we have experienced, but the richest memories are those that are branded into our thick hides, the ones that came from suffering, and God’s deliverance. Each time the Lord rescues us we find that our faith in Him has leapt forward, and each moment spent crying on the shoulder of Jesus brings us that much closer to Him. Only by weathering these trying times of tribulation do we find peace, abundance, and hope in tomorrow. Nowhere is God’s love, goodness, and grace more abundantly obvious than in those times when we need Him most.