In case you were worried that I wouldn't have anyone helping me celebrate my birthday on the ship, this is what I woke up to outside of and on my door.
Shaun T., yup that's him wishing me happy birthday!
For the past few days I have been thinking about what this day means and what the past year has been like for me. Clearly there has been at least one big life change in the past year and although I thought I would be in Africa by now, I am still pretty excited by what I have managed to accomplish in this year. I have become acutely aware of how much God is working in my life, and in the lives of my family and friends.
Every year I always seem to ask my mom the same question about what she was doing the day before I was born or the day of. I don't remember the day before story (maybe because she doesn't) but the day of story is one I tell often. At the time, my mom was working for my dad back when Gage was still a baby business, less than two years old. She was having some discomfort all day but because she is a trooper she worked through it to make sure things got done. Also, because my mom had some experience in these matters of child birth, she wasn't worried. She knew it would have been useless to go to the hospital and have to wait for there to have enough progress to do anything about it. However, towards the end of the day I guess she made a face, and it must have been a face of pain and my dad noticed. Well as soon as he caught wind that she had essentially been in the early stages of labour all day he went into LET'S GET TO THE HOSPITAL mode. This is where it gets good. Since my mom knew that after she had given birth they wouldn't let her have a shower for a while after, she wanted to go home first and have a shower and then go to the hospital. Well, at my dad's urging he decided to forgo the shower (and if you know him you know that he would never skip a shower) and head straight to the hospital . Well it was a good thing because once they got to the hospital it was a challenge for my mom to walk. At that point it was too late for the epidural and I arrived 20 minutes later!
I was also thinking about what I was doing that day while all this was going on. I figure I must have been with grandma just waiting for that perfect moment. I'm not one for speculating or guessing so let me explain myself. Although I have never met my grandma on this earth I miss her in a way that could only be explained by having a relationship with her, one that could only have been forged in heaven. I mourn her loss and keep her memory close to my heart. Not having her here makes me so much more thankful for my own mother and how much she has had to overcome losing her mom so early in her life. It also makes me so thankful for my Nonna and the amazing woman she is and all the time I have had the privilege of spending with her over all the years of my life so far.
If you feel compelled to get me a gift here are some ideas:
1. Pray for West Africa - I'm not sure what the news is saying at home but Ebola is not getting better. So please just keep that in your mind and just because the news may not be highlighting it anymore it is still a crisis.
2. Tell someone about Mercy Ships! The more people that know about it the better!
3. Click the GIVE tab at the top of the page and help me alleviate some of the stress that comes with fundraising enough to serve the time I have committed to here on the ship.
4. Tell someone you really care about that you love them or thank someone for who they are or what they have done for you. Appreciation is not overrated.
I have a some wonderful cards and a gift that my mom sent to me in July to make sure I had something to open and I opened one card to tide me over but I am waiting for later in the day to open everything else. I wasn't born in this time zone so it feels wrong to open them now when many people are still sleeping and I wasn't born until the evening (5:09 to be exact).
Other than that, have a great day and when I am allowed to disclose our destination I will do it right away.
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