My Son is 30!!??

It’s hard to believe that today is Jesse’s 30th birthday. He’s taking the day off and we are mostly just taking it easy today, but I guess we’re going to go out tonight to eat. It’s amazing to think that it was just a couple of days ago (or so it seems) that I had my 30th birthday and was wondering if I was “over the hill” yet. How can 25 years pass so quickly?

We have been having a wonderful time so far with this vacation – especially now that we have our luggage and can change clothes and stuff like that. We spent two afternoons over at the Bible Basics offices, mostly working on getting our prayer letter ready to send out. Quite a few of them are already in the mail and the rest will go out either later today or in the morning if our plans work out. Later this week, I will try to make a PDF version available here as well as email it to the many people who have said they would prefer to get it that way rather than by snail mail.

On Tuesday evening, we went out to eat with our friends from BBI, Gerry and Sharon Pruden. After we ate, Mildred and I went over to Jesse’s in-law’s house for his slightly early birthday party. We had all gone in together this year to get him something special. The Reillys have a Wii they got out the dance game for it. Little did Jesse know that it was a diversion to keep him occupied while Kristin and some others got his present ready in another room. She then sent him him in there for something and he saw this big stainless steel gas grill with a big red bow on top. “Oh wow!” were his first words, if I remember right. Jesse loves to grill and had been saving his shekels for a grill, so not only was the surprise complete, so was his satisfaction. I think Kristin was rather pleased with her deception as well. And now Jesse knows why she has been stocking up on chicken and steak.

Last night we helped our small group celebrate Christmas by joining them in eating a whole bunch of ham, scallopped potatoes, and various other culinary gems. Needless to say, there were lots of hugs as we greeted these dear, dear friends who have been praying so faithfully, frequently, and effectively for us and our work in Roatan.

The only bad part about this vacation? We will not be able to see everyone we would like to. So it helps to focus on the moment and rejoice that God has given us so many beautiful friends. Right now, though, I think I’ll start reading another book.