A Birthday to Remember...

I wanted to update you all on how the homesick and lonely birthday week turned out to be. It will definitely go down as a birthday that I will never forget. It is amazing how God has used your prayers to touch my life and help sustain me. After experiencing some of the more difficult moments emotionally on my trip, I was able to have a few incredible days after those low times. I wish that I had more control over my thoughts, but I guess I am just in a vulnerable state emotionally. I am very happy right now! Praise the Lord!

Anyways, it was definitely a birthday to remember. I turned 23 on September 23rd. I am really starting to feel old, and I don’t like it! I thought the day would be just like any other day here, but Rose, Hesbon, and Karlee had different ideas. As usual, I was “taking tea,” as they say, in the morning at around 7:00. All of a sudden the door opened, and Rose and Hesbon appeared. But they were not alone. They were joined by a huge birthday cake that said, “Happy Birthday” in huge letters. It was a vanilla cake with vanilla icing, and it absolutely made my day (even though I am a chocoholic). They walked in singing “Happy Birthday” to me. After singing the normal birthday song, they followed it up with the exact same tune but with different words. The second song was “You Look Like an Angel.” It is kind of like when we follow ours up with “How Old Are You Now?” I thought that was amazing. It really made me feel good. As I walked outside to go to class, Hesbon grabbed me and sang “Happy Birthday” to me again. He loves singing it, and he loved singing it to me all day. He is an awesome friend that I love very much.

I went to teach my math class shortly after that, and I as I walked in to the room, all of the children stood up and sang “Happy Birthday” to me as well. “Happy Birthday Dear Matt” was written in huge letters on the blackboard. When they were singing, I was nearly brought to tears. I experienced so many acts of kindness that morning. When I went into afternoon classes to play games or read stories to the kids, I was always serenaded by the beautiful children. That was so special to me. After school, Rose had to leave for a seminar that was out of town, so I went to the orphanage with Karlee to celebrate my birthday with the orphans. When I got there, all of them were shouting, “Teacher Matt, today is your happy birthday!” They like to say that. It’s never, “Today is your birthday.” It’s always, “Today is your happy birthday.” It is so sweet. I love it. Right before I left to take the boys to a big rock that looks over a huge piece of land, I was stopped by one of the girls. She had a card in her hand. Apparently Karlee had organized one big birthday card from the orphans. They all wrote “Happy Birthday Dear Matt” instead of “Happy Birthday Matt.” Everything about the day, from the “You Look Like an Angel” lyrics to the way they say, “It’s your happy birthday,” made me feel extremely loved and cared for at Tumaini. It was a really good feeling.

I thought it was going to be very difficult to get through a birthday thousands of miles away from home, but it turned out to be a birthday bash that I will never forget. I love Tumaini!