I had a birthday this week. I am in Botswana. A Botswana birthday. It was a Botswana birthday to remember too. Birthdays have always been kinda funny things for me. I remember some that were awesome. At the same time though there have been a lot of birthdays where some of the saddest things in my life have occurred. In middle school on my birthday I remember waking up to find my mother in pain. She was pregnant and she asked me to pray for her baby. 
She had a miscarriage later that day… Then, in high school I remember waking up on my birthday and finding my mother crying once again. It was like deja vous. She told me her mother, my grandma Nonnie, had past away. We headed out the next day to her funeral. There are more things too, my mom or dad went in for surgery once or twice on my birthday. I’m not really sure where I’m taking this… but I think its strange, how on days of celebration God has showed me death, and pain, and sorrow. To tell the truth I don’t really remember the normal birthdays. Don’t get me wrong. I know I’ve had really good birthdays, but its the ones where something tragic happened that I remember most. Something big and different than the birthday clowns, and games, and gummy bears. The birthdays I remember are the ones where I found myself at a completely different place at the end of the day. Every time I have a birthday I remember my grandma. I remember how awesome she was and how she cared for me so much. Every time I have a birthday I think of how crazy it would be to have a little brother that was 10 years younger than me. I remember that life is not all about a party. It’s about remembering what has happened, where you have been, and where you have come. If I go through my past, and measure how and where I have grown and where God has taken me, against where I am today… chances are I haven’t changed much. All this to say, I want to always remember. God has been drilling in my head to remember my first love. Remember that Jesus is the one that brought my parents together so I could come into existence. Remember that Jesus is the one who has changed my life in more ways than I could count. Remember that Jesus is the one who has brought me here today to have a birthday in Botswana. Just like I never want to forget my grandma, or my brother… I never want to forget what Jesus has been doing in my life here in Botswana. Though nothing bad or sad happened on my birthday, I never want to forget this birthday because it’s a year of change and growth for me. It’s one of those times that at the end of my 22nd year I found myself in a completely different place than I expected.
Now that I have shown you how deep and mature I am now that I am 23 by telling you all that, I would like to tell you about what happened on my birthday, because it really was an awesome day. The day started with my team. One thing you should know about my team is that we have Sarah. Sarah is passionate about birthdays. She carries around a calender of all the birthdays she celebrates and its packed with birthdays. We also have Colleen. Colleen is passionate about being awesome on birthdays and making awesome birthday cakes called the Bomb. The two of their powers combined form the birthday committee. They are so on-it when it comes to birthdays that they buy people birthday presents months in advance. They managed a ride to one of our favorite South African chain restaurants called Mug and Bean. We got a nice breakfast, opened presents, and drank good coffee. Any day with good coffee is a good day to me. As a birthday treat I got to frivolously spend some of my support money on a latte. So thank you supporters for the latte.
After breakfast we went to the church we have been working with and prayed and worshipped for over three hours. I love it. I love worship. I love to think about being face to face with the God of the Universe praising His name. I love His presence. Kyle shared an awesome message which you could probably get a glimpse of if you check out his blog. God has been laying incredible stuff on his heart.
We managed to head back to the mall to meet a contact to find out about some ministry opportunities, and we also got some internet time. After the meeting we then went and found 
some more internet time. It’s a precious thing here in Africa.
The day was finalized by going to a surprise birthday party that I already knew about. The party was sweet. The people here are so loving, it blows my mind. They made a ton of traditional Setswana food which was so good. They also gave me a bag which had roses (cultural thing), an African shirt, and a card. One lady even put money in the card. It’s overwhelming to me. I felt so loved by a community that I only met a week ago. They also bought me a big cake. Overwhelming.
So we spent the night together. The six people on our team and some fifteen Botswanan people. We talked about God, about cultures, about food, about marriage, about divorce, about traveling. It was truly the kind of night that I wish everyday on the Race could be like. We eventually ate the Bomb (so good). Let me tell you about the bomb. The bomb is Ice Cream cake with not one but two different flavors of ice cream. They also packed marshmallows and chocolate pudding (a rarity in these parts) into it and cover the whole thing in Nutella. Wow. Needless to say after pounding the bomb everyone was about to keel over and it was late, so we sang some worship songs, prayed for some people and went home.
The bottom line…it was an awesome birthday. Not only because we had the bomb, the gifts, the coffee, the worship, the internet, the food, the people… but because God spoke to me. He reminded me how far he has taken me, and how far he still will take me if I let him. He reminded me of times that have changed my life. He reminded me of people that were in my life and poured into me. He reminded me that birthdays are a dime a dozen, but people are forever. He reminded me of my family and how much they have done for me, and how much they love me. He reminded me that he has my heart and he has an amazing purpose for my life if I will only press into him. He reminded me that I wouldn’t be here without the friends and family that pour into my life back home. I could go on. Thank you for bearing with me. God is so good. In good and bad he is so good. Thank you for you’re prayers and support.
