And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lords holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
– Ephesians 3:17-19
Turning 25 is one of the last “special” birthdays I had to celebrate. After this media tells me I need to be semi depressed once I turn 30 and perhaps clinically depressed at 50 in which I will attempt to act as though I'm 25 again, get a tattoo, buy something impressive and revel in the fact that “I'm still young!”
Birthdays on the race are enjoyable – they give everyone a reason to celebrate. It's one of the benefits of community. Instead of receiving 40 different FaceBook updates telling me “OMG! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!” I got real, verbal “Happy Birthday's” accompanied by hugs.
My birthday went up agains all odds. Everything about the specific date meant that it was not going to be easy to have the typical “extra special 25th- half a century birthday” celebration. November 2 meant that we would likely be traveling. Our squad was on it's way out of Eastern Europe and into India. Meaning there would be stress, tiredness, an uncomfortable long plane, and a high chance my body would disagree with the circumstances. Therefore my relaxed personality kicked in and thought “Regardless of what happens, I'm turning 25 while on a great adventure the Lord placed me in.”
Little to my knowledge, the Lord had a gift for me. At about 12pm on November 2nd E-squad landed in Qatar for a 24 hour layover. The hotel was fit for royalty, and not the “World Race-we're sons and daughters of the King” kind of royalty. The rooms had crisp white linens, plush pillows, a beautifully tiled shower AND bathtub and the window over looked the Persian Gulf. Our continental breakfast was far more then cereal, milk and muffins and for me it felt as though the whole room was excited to wish me a happy day.
That day I ventured out into Qatar with one goal – to celebrate the day with a drink in hand and a desert to eat. So the ladies of team IronLife and I ventured out amongst the jungle of beautiful architecture and found ourselves seated at the Four Seasons hotel beachfront restaurant, fancy drinks in hand and delicious sweets plated in front of us. We may have snuck in and it cost our missionary budgets a prettier penny than intended but the emotional high and the sign of relief from our mini-debrief/team changes weekend was worth it all. I remember confidently saying “I wouldn't rather be anywhere else, or with anyone else today. Today has been a great day.” As the Arabian sun set, we drove back to the airport to fly to India. On the plane I read 30+ letters from family and friends back home. Many of which brought tears to my eyes. I was loved and celebrated around the world.
The Lord isn't afraid or hesitant to give us gifts. He wants to love us in every way possible. God doesn't have A “love language” he ONLY gives love. No our Father wants us to know how special and important we are to him all ways and always. God gave me an obvious gift on November 2nd. He gave me his love though community and a day for celebration.
