It’s my last year in my thirties. Wowza. Time flies.
My birthday was on a Wednesday, and so we had school to do. The kids would try to complain or huff about school work or chores, and I would gently remind them, “It’s my birthday,” with a smile on my face. They would stop huffing and comply with whatever they were supposed to do. And then there was piano and sewing and church. Josh had a meeting with his discipleship group. Under normal circumstances, he would have canceled and been with me. However, due to work travel, he has missed the last five (!) meetings, so I told him he should go since he is gone next Wednesday, too. And I decided to throw together a dinner birthday party for me. I have never done this as an adult, but I can tell you that it was fun! I won’t do it every year, but it was the best gift to have some of my closest friends sitting at dinner with me.
I have many lovely ladies in my life that aren’t in this picture, no doubt! I am a blessed woman to be surrounded by friends that mean so much to me and my family, but I couldn’t rent the whole restaurant! A party of 12 would have to do. Some of these girls are in my discipleship group…each one challenges and encourages me in wonderful ways. One in the picture has been my longest time friend since I have been in Woodstock. There are new friends that I am still getting to know and love to hear about them and see their personality with others. There’s sweet, quiet ones that are kind through and through. There are ones that I can just unload on about homeschooling and they know exactly how I feel. Lots of them are FUNNY!!! Some are older (not many!), and they give such wisdom in how they live their life. All of these ladies are amazing moms with hilarious kids. I love each of their kids so much and know that those kiddos are way blessed to have such strong, loving, patient, hard working moms! They all make me a better person, and I thank the Lord for each of them….and so many more that He has brought into my life. All of these ladies are in our Sunday School class and have encouraged me in my role as Sunday School teacher wife in so many ways over the past 14 years.
During dinner I tried out a “conversational tip” I heard from Michael Hyatt (they all kind of laughed when I told them we would be doing this…but they went along with it like good sports). He says he learned it from Lucy Swindoll. It’s called the “One Conversation Rule.” So I announced that once we ordered our food we were going to try this rule out. I threw out a question. “What is one risk you have taken in life? Are you glad you took it?” I let them think about it for a while and have small talk with each other and then we started answering the question and everyone at the table listened to who was talking. Then, sometimes there were other questions that would come out of the answer that was given. I enjoyed it so much. This enabled you to get to know everyone in the table a little bit more, instead of being limited to hearing from those right next to you. I don’t know what they thought, but I thought it was amazing! I will definitely be implementing this again.
So as I laid down last night in the bed, I closed my eyes and smiled– Grateful to God for His blessings in my life in the way of friends and family.
I thought about a moment earlier in the day when Mack brought me a piece of paper and told me I had to say yes to what was in the paper. I was reluctant because, as I told him, if he asked me for a million dollars, I couldn’t say yes. He assured me it was a reasonable request, so I agreed and he gave me the paper. I opened it and read his poem:
And the back:
Oh my goodness. He is so sweet. I read the note and saw $3.00 folded up. I was telling him how incredibly kind his gesture was, then I looked at his face and his eyes were watering and then he just started crying and hugging me and telling me that he hopes I had a great birthday. I was crying by then, of course, and telling him that I have had a great birthday because of his sweetness. He cried for a little more and sat with me. He is just so tender hearted. Josh likes to say, when Mack does something like this, “Yep. Just like his Daddy.” While Josh is very good to me, I don’t think his sensitivity level is anywhere near Mack’s. We could both learn a thing or two from him.
But Josh did send me flowers!
He is a loving, hard-working, generous man, and I am honored to call him mine.
And I got a sweet gift from my friend and neighbor, Melissa. She is a treasure! The picture of what a friend is.
So, happy birthday to me! It was a GREAT day. Perfect in every way.