My Overseas Birthday

     So I have to say, my birthday was completely, amazingly blessed.

     It began the night before when Isa stayed awake 'til 12:00 just to wish me happy birthday and to pray that this would be a year of blessings, grace, "compromiso con Dios", fulfillment of my dreams, and more.... Compromiso in this sense is difficult to explain in English...it could mean promise, engagement, maybe even refer to walking in convenential context.

     The next morning as I was waiting my turn in the bathroom, snuggled up under piles of blankets, little Barbara came in to sing me happy birthday...in English! So sweet!

     I don't think I've ever been sung to so much in my life! Barbara continued to sing throughout the day. At each meal I was graced with a petition that the next year would be full of growth and blessing. At lunch, I recieved birthday greetings from the workers at the church who eat with us.

     Then in the afternoon, I chatted with my sister via skype for a while. Throughout the day so many friends chimed in on facebook I was blown away!

     My sweet friend plotted with her sister to surprise me with a birthday cake and little pizzas for Once. Imagine a delicious looking cake of manjar and whipped creamed, candles blazing in the darkness, and my Chilean family gathered round to sing happy birthday! Such a precious time.

     But I knew one more thing was likely to happen.

     You see, I noticed that this church likes to celebrate birthdays. Almost every week there's someone with a birthday and they are called to the front and the entire body sings to them and then Pastor prays over them.

     It was a beautiful thing to look into the faces of my new friends here and be reminded of the times we've shared together...and such a plethora of greetings afterwards! I was hugged and kissed by so many people it was a little overwhelming.

     To top everything off, I was able to chat with several friends just before I went to bed. Two of them I lived with in college, another was part of the Lee group, then a good friend from Lee, and the last a friend from home.

     Chileans are so correct when they say, "que los cumple in Cristo, doblemente feliz", or, if you fulfill your years in Crist, you're doubly happy.