SURPRISE

This post is a little late. But I thought it was still necessary to share – my first African birthday. If you’re going to have a birthday, I suggest having it in Africa. It started in March and didn’t end until May. That’s the way to celebrate! While I was visiting my parents in March, we started the party off right with a few gifts and a day at a Lodge. With the African postal system, most people didn’t know when exactly to send the gifts. And like normal, they all arrived at various times. So I just continued to celebrate throughout the whole month of April and even in to May. But the highlight of my birthday this year was done by my wonderful roommate and dear friend, Marissa.

One Friday night I had plans with Eleanor. We were going to study the Bible at her room and then come back to my house for dinner. She had wanted to cook for us for a long time. So we planned to do it that night. Everything went smoothly, me totally unaware of what was about to happen. When we arrived back at our house, I noticed a friend’s car in the drive. My mind raced a million places to why they might be there, but it never hit the right reason. I went in the house, still totally unaware, and noticed a lot of food out on our dining room table. I looked at my three white friends sitting on the couch and said, “I’m so confused.” At that moment, about 30 people jumped out from everywhere yelling, “SURPRISE!” I was stunned. So stunned I almost started to cry. I have had many attempted surprise parties in my four years in college, and I think nearly everyone failed. And to think that my roommate was able to invite all my friends and fix every detail without me knowing was remarkable. We are together nearly 24 hours a day. I have no idea how she pulled it off.

But we had a great time at the party. We laughed, talked, ate, and even played some of my favorite games. Here are a few pictures of my precious surprise party!

This is just after I first arrived. I'm still in shock. And running around the room like crazy trying to remember everyone who was there. They all hugged me when I came. But I wasn't paying enough attention to actually look at them. These are some of my sweet girls!

Me and lots of girls. They're all great! You should come meet them.

Louie kept sneaking in to our girl pictures! Shame on him!

This is my wonderful friend Lulu. She is studying to be a doctor.

This is Eleanor, the girl who was in on the surprise the whole time, and her roommate Lydia. Lydia got ready for the party while I was in the room studying with Eleanor. I was totally clueless as to why she was dressing up so cute.

Me and the boys!

This is me and my cake. If you can't tell, the cake is actually a big bowl of muffins. They knew there would be a lot of people. So they made lots of muffins instead of a really big cake. So they stuck all the candles in different muffins. The Tanzanians didn't know any different and loved the muffins. They are always asking for more!




But after the surprise party, the strangest thing happened. Reality hit. And it hit hard. I was so honored that my friends came to celebrate with me. I was blessed that they loved me enough to come. I realized that God had brought me here and was using me in people’s lives. What a blessing! But I also realized that I had friends and family back home who really wished they could celebrate my birthday with me. I saw the blessings of two amazing families. A family in Africa and a family in America. But I also saw the curse of it. Those two worlds will never collide. They will always be two worlds. My friends in Africa will never know my friends in America. My friends in America will never know my friends in Africa. And this may sound crazy to you, but that hurts deep inside. There are two families in this world that I love dearly. They are both a gift from God. But my heart aches wishing you could meet each other. So I will continue to tell stories. I will continue to show pictures. And I will pray that each family will understand a little bit about life on the other side of the world.