Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I am 28 years old. I love my birthday. It makes me feel reflective. And today was just the way I would want to spend my birthday. We had our last weekly meeting of Camp OUTT, so I played outside with a huge gang of kids, sweaty hot, and so much fun! Two kids came to talk to me about being saved today, and though I don't pretend to fully understand the movement of the Holy Spirit, I did what I believe was the best, and prayed with them for salvation. So AWESOME! Only God sees their hearts, but it was special! Also, this afternoon, I read for about and hour the last 5 chapters of The Silver Chair. How exciting! I do not get time, usually to fully read out loud to my heart's content, but twenty-plus kids were absolutely hanging onto every word! If you have read it, you know what exciting parts come in those last five chapters, allowing for the use of some pretty great reading voices!

These are pictures of me with the best present I could ever get for a birthday -- an autographed book from Elisabeth Elliot! I wrote her a letter telling her a bit about how her writing has impacted my spiritual walk, and she signed this book for me, and replied to me with a personal letter as well as a suggested reading list! AUGH! I simply adore reading lists! If you look closely at the top picture, you can see her darling shaky handwriting. I was so thrilled, I wept!

So, another year. And this year, I begin with an intense longing for heaven. For Jesus. It seems to be on my mind more. In what I read, in songs I hear. With thinking about Ed Horn, and others whose lives here on earth are over. Sometimes, though I feel like I am still so young, I begin to think that I cannot take this waiting much longer!