I was never 34 years of age. I was 35 twice, however.

For some reason, I was focused on hitting the 35-year-old marker. It was like the stress some people have on turning 30, or 40, or whatever. I guess I thought 35 was “the halfway point” and I didn’t want to pass it just yet.

But for some reason, after my 34th birthday, if someone asked my age, I automatically said I was 35. Then the next year, I was actually 35. So maybe I can say I never aged during that time. Yeah.

I know I did that with another year, but I can’t remember exactly which one. Now, I’ve done it for the third time.

This past weekend, my biological clock ticked a bit further ahead and I reached the 52-year mark. The thing is, I’ve been telling people I was 52 for a year now. Yep, I repeated the stupid cycle.

I thought about this the night before my birthday, thinking “At least I won’t feel any different tomorrow because I’ve thought I was 52 for a year now.” But when I woke up on B-day, my joints and back told me I had miraculously aged a decade overnight.

At least I’m still here. For that I’m grateful. I know I’m heaven-bound, but I don’t want to fly away just yet. To put it in the words of a metal song from the 1990s, I’m “not afraid of death, but I don’t wanna die.”

I got to spend the weekend with my wife and three of my kiddos. We played games, watched movies, listened to music and shared a lot of good food and conversation, and worshiped together Sunday morning. I got to talk with the rest of my chilluns, so that was great, too.

I got some cool gifts — books, horror movie trivia, a couple of T-Rex themed things, and an ear and nose hair trimmer! Ha! To be fair, I need it, and I specifically asked for it. And a lot of you thought I had a mustache.

This past year has been a difficult one at times, for many reasons. But it has also been a great one, for many more reasons.

God continually displays his faithfulness and perfect love, and I cannot thank him enough.

I am tired today. I feel like I could sleep for a few hours. But I am overcome with gratitude for my family, good friends and a great God.

News editor Brett Campbell can be reached at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.