South African Journey

Just a short thing about my birthday. I had informed folks here in Alex as to when my birthday is. I wasn’t sure if we would be doing something for it or not. I knew that with my birthday falling on a Tuesday it would be unlikely since everyone has to work the following day. I was at the church for a church council meeting the night of my birthday. The meeting was going long and I hadn’t been told of plans for anything. I was fine with not having a party and didn’t expect much either. This particular week I was staying with a family that lived in a different part of town, but was informed that someone else would be taking me to their house after the meeting. As we pulled up to the house I noticed a few familiar cars parked nearby that weren’t usually there. It wasn’t until then that I thought something might be up. Once inside I was escorted out the back door to find 20 people from church and that I knew from around town there…”Surprise!” They all kept quiet about throwing me a surprise party. We enjoyed a nice braai (cookout) with steak, chicken, wors (similar to bratwurst), mealie pap, pie, cake and ice cream. It wasn’t a long party but it was just enough! It was awesome how they came together and did something special for me that they didn’t have to do. I’m quite appreciative of the thoughts of those here in South Africa. It’s certainly a birthday that I will never forget!!!