Birthday Calls

"Yes! You've been delivered (caused to arrive)!" That is the literal translation of the Amharic greeting most often used on milestone holidays such as birthdays. The idea is that the well-wisher is rejoicing with you for God bringing you through another year with safety and health. The underlying presupposition, that God is actively involved in our lives and thus worthy of our praise, is found in many of their greetings and frequently used sayings. If we could only speak them with genuine gratitude each time (and not just as formal clichés), our hearts would be led into meaningful worship, contextualized in the events of our day. Something to strive toward for sure.

So yes, both Andrea and I have definitively crossed the 1/3 of a century barrier as we turned 34 on the 22^nd and 24^th of last month. Micah and Grace would probably speak most highly of the near back-to-back birthday cakes we indulged in, but for Andrea and me, we each had our own highlights, both in the form of unexpected phone calls. For Andrea, it was the call she received from her parents. Let it be noted that my in-laws are NOT night owls. Anything past dark-thirty and you're better off leaving a voice mail - maybe that's why Andrea and I smoke them in cards so often! J  But anyway at 7am on her birthday, that is 10pm Michigan time, Andrea's mobile phone rang with love and encouragement from home! It made her day for sure.

Two days later, on my birthday, my highlight came in the form of a phone call from not nearly so far away - Yitayel, the Dibate post office worker. "A package has arrived for you, will you come to town tomorrow morning?" Even though the next day was a market day on which I could buy some fruit and eggs and such, I opted for immediate gratification and responded, "No, I'll come now, today is my birthday!" After finishing the passage in Acts that I had been checking, I went home and stirred up two volunteers to go into town with me. A quick trip in, short visit with Yitayel and soon Grace, Micah and I were arriving home with the plunder – a grossly overstuffed box from my parents!

The Christmas box which got a late start had finally arrived, and the timing could not have been better in creating a special birthday surprise. After supper, the four of us dug into the box, finding it to be a treasure chest of candies, chocolates, clothes, books, toys, legos, etc. etc.

The pearl in it all for me was the monster Snicker's bar included in memory of a certain 5 lb. Hershey's bar I had once won in a drawing. It arrived in perfect condition, just prior to the seasonal wind shift that shot our temperatures up well above the point of melting chocolate.