I knew I would remember what country I would be in for the month of April. Why? Because it was my birthday month! It would was easy to remember. Albania is for April. I didn’t know really what to expect for this month, but I knew it would be something that I would remember. I have joked about turning 33 while on the race for a couple of reasons. First, Jesus was 33 during his last year of ministry. Second, I chose the third route of the world race because it was the number 3 and it was 2013 and I would be 33. Very symmetrical in my opinion:)
My birthday was on a Sunday this year, which happens to be one of our days off. On Saturday, we went to the capital of Albania for the day and had a great time. That night we played cards and games. I went to bed ready to see what the official start of my 33rd year would be like! I woke up and got dressed. I decided to sleep through breakfast and be upstairs for our church service at 10. When I walked upstairs, Jeremy opened the door and the whole squad sang happy birthday to me. It almost made me cry. I felt so loved. I was able to hear a great message from George our contact and then my team quickly ate our lunch.
The 7 of us took the 45-minute walk to town. They wanted to let me use the Internet to talk with my family and friends and get coffee and cake. We stopped and got this huge cake and walked to the nearest bar/café for coffee. It was great to talk to my family and hear their voices and hear them singing to me. It was hard to realize I was so far away, but my team made me feel better. I felt like I was with my new family. How cool was it that I was in Albania on my birthday??
One of my favorite things to do is watch movies. So, our team was able to watch the classic 80s movie, “Pretty in Pink.” Some of the girls had never seen it and it was fun to watch it with them. By this point it was dinner time and we headed up to eat. After we were done eating, I went to Flora to get my usual nightly coffee. When I returned to my seat, Kellie said she wanted to take me OUT for coffee instead. I was confused, but I pawned my coffee off and we headed out to the tavern right down the street. She and I had a great date. We talked about where I was at on my journey and shared where I wanted to go. It was very typical of a one on one on the race. I thought nothing of it until…
Kellie asked if I could go up to the 3rd level to get a chair when we got back. I felt like something was up. We walked in to our meeting room and all of the squad was sitting down in the chairs. Emily Peterson was “leading” biblestudy. It was almost believable until she started smiling and someone had a camera out. Then she yelled “Transition” and everyone got up and turned the lights out and we had a rave! Everyone danced for a bit. My heart was so full of joy. O Squad knows how much I love to dance and this was a perfect way to celebrate my 33rd year!
I am so excited to see what is in store for this year. I am off to a great start! God is so good. He knows how to make me feel loved. I know I will always remember my Albanian birthday. Thank you for everyone who made me feel special!
