In just one minute.

Last week was my birthday.

It was a busy birthday. Like all Wednesdays it was full, it was fast, and a little furious. Teaching three-year-olds in the morning, ballet class and errands in the afternoon, Bible study at night, praise practice to end the day.

It was a blessed birthday. The kids made me cards, signed their names and drew their marks. Matt gave me a sewing organizer that I desperately needed and a set of headphones for running that actually stay in my funny-shaped ear holes.

It was a good birthday.  My hubby and I had some time alone to grab lunch thanks to a dear friend, and spent an hour talking and walking down the mall aisles hand in hand, without counting heads and holding little hands.

It was also a humbling birthday and one to learn a good lesson about loving well .

You know how Facebook declares your birth date to the world? Mine was posted as well.

And this year I was overwhelmed with the amount of people from all of the paths of my life who took time off their busy day to write a happy birthday note on my wall.

See, the thing is you can see a birthday and you can choose to ignore it. I know I often do. I also know it only takes a minute to click on someone’s wall and wish them a good day.

But that’s just it: it takes a minute and, in my busy day, a minute is gold.

It is a minute less I have to browse through my close friends’ pages and catch up on their lives.

It is a minute less for me to think of a clever status to post so that I get lots of comments.

So it's a lost minute.

It is a lost minute to wish that person I had not seen/talked to/interacted with in ages a happy birthday. Will they even notice or care if I don’t? I wonder.

Until I was that person.

I don’t know why this year in particular the response was so widespread. I really don’t. But I do know this: I felt loved, remembered, cherished, blessed.

Amazing how that one minute these people took to click, write, click again made a difference to a stay-at-home mom who sometimes wonders if she has disappeared from the face of the earth now that she is not “out” in the world.

And it made me think that perhaps I pass on opportunities daily to take one minute to make someone’s day with a quick e-mail, a short wall message, a comment on a blog, a brief card in the mail.

Just to say: I remember you, I love you, I cherish you, I've been blessed by you.

It only takes one minute to remind someone they matter to the world.

Do you have a minute today?