When I was a kid, my sister used to have water games in our back yard for her birthday with ice cream cake to boot. I once had my birthday party cancelled due to an ice storm.
This year, however, I had a pool party with fifty teenagers and youth leaders to kick off my birthday weekend. Actually, I kicked it off Friday morning with buying a Bible for a friend who is on a new journey following Jesus. It was super exciting.
Next I had a call with my regional supervisor with TeachBeyond about the opportunities I have promoting holistic health among transformational educators. That had me buzzing before the pool party, and I do love how uniquely positioned I am to develop teachers sent all over East Asia.
Saturday afternoon I got a brief catch up with Shannon, and Sunday morning I made it to the early service so that Alicia could drop me off just outside of town to spend my birthday facedown on a saran wrapped table with a kind stranger who spent seven hours scraping my arm. At the end, one of my favourite people picked me up to celebrate the new birds tattooed down the back of my right arm. Emma and I went out for coffee and a catch up, and I love seeing her passion for people being transformed by Jesus. Once she dropped me back home, I had a meal and read a text from another one of my favourite people inviting me on an impromptu beach run. Hannah just wanted the good parking at Sumner, so she brought me along, but we had a blast watching the surfers as the sun set behind us and telling hilarious stories.
On our way back from the beach, we saw the end of the fireworks display from Hagley Park and stopped at Macca's for some ice cream before heading home. I've had a few epic birthdays, and this is among one of the best.
According to Shannon, I'm allowed to celebrate all month, so I'm going to eat some cake with a couple of my leaders tonight while they plan a quiz night fundraiser.