Dear Birthday Girl,
A year ago, you were curled up under a pile of blankets, fending off the cool Seattle breeze. Breakfast was a feast of local seafood and hot coffee. There were a few presents, mostly cards full of Barnes and Noble gift certificates or twenty dollar bills. You flew back to Colorado with your beautiful sister and laughed all the way to Fort Collins, racing the sunset as it hovered above the mountains. When you got home, you were greeted by a surprise bonfire and a bouquet of sunflowers. The boys knew those were your favorite. You roasted marshmellows and sat on the roof talking until early in the morning. You thought briefly about the next birthday, one that was supposed to be in Uganda.
You pictured yourself stirring a pot of posho and beans over an open fire and figured that there probably wouldn’t be a cake. There probably wouldn’t be a bed, either, which reminded you that you still needed to buy a Thermarest before Training Camp. You hadn’t even met B Squad yet (strange thought now, yes?), those Jesus-lovers that became your friends and teammates.
After 9 months, you're still crazy about them.
You never figured that you’d wake up in a house made of sturdy walls, or that there would be a very lovely little twin bed with a comfortable mattress. You couldn’t have imagined a gate that led out to the hills where you could spend a few minutes with the LORD who thought of you before you were born. You didn’t think of hard boiled eggs or toast or a heart shaped mug for breakfast. You never imagined that you’d be clean, as in, showering the previous day rather than a week before. You didn’t think that every single one of your teammates would great you with a hug and a “Happy Birthday, Beautiful Birthday Girl!” You couldn't have dreamt of coming home from ministry to a candle lit dinner of French Toast with Frank Sinatra on in the background.
After 9 more months, you'll still be crazy about them.
Certainly you never would have pictured yourself standing in front of two hundred teenaged Ugandan boys as they sang Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Heeee-ter! Happy Birthday to you!
You never would have thought you could be so full or feel so loved or so lovely.
But you do. And you are.
Happy Birthday!
Love,
Me
