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birthdays.

"Celebrating a birthday reminds us of the goodness of life, and in this spirit we really need to celebrate people's birthdays every day, by showing gratitude, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, and affection. These are ways of saying: "It's good that you are alive; it's good that you are walking with me on this earth. Let's be glad and rejoice. This is the day that God has made for us to be and to be and to be together." Henri Nouwen: Here and Now, page 21

One of the greatest joys I have had recently is getting to share one of my youth's birthdays with her.


Tumee has quickly become one of the kids I am closest with. She is hilarious and sweet and has such a joyful spirit.

I was excited just to get to bake her something special for her birthday but when I arrived at church that morning, she had something even better in mind. She asked me if I wanted to go to the movies with her (I think you get in free on your birthday). I was so excited that she wanted to spend time with me on her birthday. I thought it would be a group of people but it ended up just being the two of us.

I made arrangements to skip Senior Citizen group that afternoon and head to the movies with my newly 15 year old friend.

When we got there, it was a debate between Wolfman, Girlfriends and Valentine's Day. Unfortunately the showings for Wolfman and Valentine's Day didn't fit into our schedule so we got to watch Girlfriends--the Korean chick flick with Mongolian subtitles. I would tell you how it was but I made up a story line for everything I saw, so I'm not actually sure if it was any good.

Afterwards we got to share some pizza together and we taught each other Mongolian and English. It was a beautiful day for me and I hope that it was for her too.

I was so blessed and honored to get to be a part of that day with her. I think it may have been one of the only ways she celebrated her birthday.

I think I may have started a birthday trend among my other students, but I am thankful for that opportunity to get to celebrate. We can say, "It's good that you are alive; it's good that you are walking with me on this earth. Let's be glad and rejoice. This is the day that God has made for us to be and to be and to be together."

Make sure you celebrate birthdays with joy and thankfulness.


Comments

  1. I like that you made up your own story line. :) That makes me smile. :) hehe

    ReplyDelete

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