33 yrs of blessings!

I particularly liked the spelling of my name!

This week I turned 33 years old and honestly...  sometimes it’s hard to believe. There are things I thought I would have and do by now but haven’t. But then again, there is a list twice as long of things I’ve had the joy of experiencing. As I look back over my life, I can’t imagine living this adventure any differently. Sure, I would have avoided those freaky wave bangs of the 80’s and probably would have at least tried out for some kind of sport in High School... but all in all, no complaints.

It’s been a great 33 years. I pray the next round is just as fabulous.

One of my sisters got me a ‘special delivery’ package through a short term team and I’ve kept it to open on my birthday. It was a beautiful yellow dress. Oh! So African! I felt so thrilled to have a nice dress to wear to church. (Here, you get dressed to the hilt for Church service! I’ve been worried I would have nothing to wear.)

After church, I celebrated my birthday with missionary friends at an Italian restaurant called Medditeraneo. It was absolutely marvelous! When our server found out it was my birthday he offered me a dessert of my choice. Raspberry Cheesecake! Of Course!

But I asked him kindly NOT to sing “happy birthday” to me. (I have issues with the song. It’s like nails on a chalkboard.) If he insisted on singing, perhaps he could do it in his local language, I suggested. This confused him somewhat.... and I could hear a long discussion about it with some of the other staff in the background.

However when my most excellent cheesecake came out... it was followed by ALL the staff (including the kitchen!) singing in Swahili. It WASN’T the happy birthday song... but some chant in my honor. I loved it!

The best part was one of the chefs was beating out the rhythm with serving spoons! Priceless!

It was certainly a birthday to remember. If I can ever get the song video uploaded on youtube, i'll link it here. :- )