They Busted Through My Door Like F.B.I.

They Busted Through My Door Like F.B.I.

May 8^th, 2011

It was just a normal Sunday here in Kenya. We attended a great church service where my brother Dex preached an amazing message about us being temporary citizens of Earth and permanent citizens of Heaven. It was an amazing message and it definitely moved all of us in attendance. That Sunday was also the first day I was able to wear my tailored suit that I had made in town. It felt SO good to be wearing nice clothes again. Normally I would just wear my nice jeans and a button up shirt to church, but here in Kenya, people get dressed UP for church. Full suits and three piece suits are common among the men and the women are in their beautiful traditional Kenyan dresses. Anyways……

We usually have Sunday afternoons/evenings free, so we usually hang out with each other and talk or watch shows on the computer. Sarah and I have a mutual bond over watching the new season of Real Housewives of Orange County, so we took that Sunday afternoon to catch up on the latest episodes. We finished one episode and then started the next episode and it happened………..

 

(Yahh yeahh…..I watch this show…so what? ha)

 

We were watching a scene from Real Housewives in the room and then all of a sudden the door FLIES open F.B.I. style and I hear SURPRISE! And low and behold it was my squad leader Shannon, Ashley, and Lindsay! They left their team and traveled a few hours away from their ministry site to spend the night with us and celebrate my birthday the following day! I literally sat there shocked with my jaw opened and I had nothing to say. I was sooo surprised! These are some of my favorite girls in the ENTIRE world and I couldn’t believe they were actually going to be with me for my birthday! I came to learn later on that my whole team knew about it, our contacts knew all about it, and their plan to visit on my birthday has been planned for WEEKS! Weeks!! How did I get so blessed to have such amazing and lovely people in my life?!?

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening catching up with each other and hanging out. The electricity was actually out for most of the evening, so we had all nice great conversations without any electronics as distractions. We even had a candle lit dinner (feast) that was very intimate and it felt like we are a family back in the Little House on the Prairie days…..if Little House on the Prairie took place in Kenya J.

May 9^th, 2011

My Birthday!

I woke up to birthday greetings from my lovely teammates and visitors! I knew the moment I woke up that it was going to be THE best birthday ever. Ash, Linz, and Shan bought me a box of chocolate bars as a gift and I also received a lovely card from Shan. We spent the morning just chill and hanging out. The gals were leaving in the afternoon to return to their ministry site and their team, so our contacts made a super special birthday lunch for us before they left. The feast consisted of a few of my favorite foods:

·         A HUGE bowl of homemade guacamole and fried chips.

·         A HUGE pot of fresh cut French fries.

·         Fresh Fried Chicken (I was wondering why I didn’t hear the rooster crowing in the morning…)

 

We all literally ate til we fell over. Oh and there was one more part of the meal….. Miss Evelyn brings out a crate of glass Cokes and proceeded to say that they wanted to buy champagne, but it wasn’t available so Coke would have to do. You wanna light up eyes of World Racers….you bring them a crate of Coke!

 

Our guests left after lunch and while it was sad to see them go, it was an amazing memory to spend my birthday with them, my amazing team, and our amazing contacts. Pastor Omega and Miss Evelyn gave me a gift of a Kenya t-shirt and a very sweet and encouraging card. One of the church members came by and got me a safari hat for a present! I am loved. The rest of the day was spent hanging out with each other. It was a pretty chill birthday-unlike my previous birthdays. We ate so much for lunch that we delayed dinner for an hour. We closed the night by watching one of my favorite movies-Dumb and Dumber!

 

(Me and Lindz!)

 

 

(The lovely cake Miss Evelyn baked and decorated for me!)

 

Even though we didn’t “do” much, it was the best birthday ever. My past three birthdays (21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd) consisted of Hilton hotel suites, late night partying at bars, and heavy hangovers the next day. The only type of hangover I had this time was from too much LOVE. I was surrounded by people that care for me and that are very important in my life. Even though I wasn’t with my family and friends back home, the people I was surrounded with here in Kenya were amazing. This year, I can say I spent my 24^th birthday amongst people I love and the presence of the Lord was heavily present throughout the whole day. Instead of extravagant birthday dinners, we chowed down on French fries and guacamole, instead of drinking out of $200 vodka bottles and sitting in V.I.P. booths I drank Coke and socialized in a cozy house in the middle of Kenya. I definitely learned that celebrating a birthday doesn’t have to be an extravagant event. Before I had this birthday I thought I had to have big parties in order to have a happy birthday. Wrong. I just need to be around people that care for me and love me. I mean, it’s true when The Beatles said “All you need is love.” The Lord will bring people in your life that will truly love you no matter what. He will bring people that will travel from hours away just to spend a few hours with your on your birthday.