Birthdays and Books!

We got together with girls from our small group on Wednesday to celebrate a birthday with dinner and cupcakes. This picture is actually the "after" shot. Notice the lack of cupcakes - just don't count, please.


This is Ruth Ann, who led our small group last semester (who I'll actually be co-leading with this semester) with her cupcakes that spelled out "21"

All the candles are lit! Time to make a wish!

I think she liked my homemade icing!

So here is my life for the next four months. And this is actually minus three books. Which I think makes a grand total of about . . yea, that's right . . TWENTY.

Random Acts of Kindness

I’m so appreciative of little random acts of kindness. Simple things can easily make my day.

I have wanted ihop for weeks now but anytime I’m in the mood no one has been here to go with me. And I’m not the type to walk into a restaurant and sit down and eat alone. Today, my roommate and I were finally on the same page. About 7 o’clock we headed over to ihop to enjoy some breakfast for dinner. . Or “brinner” – whichever you prefer. We walk in and the waitress seats us across the room from about ten high school aged boys and a middle aged man who also shared our “brinner” idea. We didn’t think much of it at the time.

When the guys across the room receive their food we notice that they prayed before they ate. My roommate and I can definitely appreciate this and this sparks a discussion in us. We were so thankful to see young people being able to take a stand for Christ – especially in a public place.

Finally the omelet I had been wanting for weeks arrived – so my roommate and I pray over our food as we always do and then continue on with our meal (which was amazing! I could have breakfast for every meal). The guys who were sharing the restaurant with us left; meanwhile my friend and I finish our meal also and ask our waitress for our ticket.

She brought us our ticket and begins to say something when I ask her for a to-go box so she goes back and grabs one for me. While she’s handing me the box she says “Here is your bill – but the gentleman sitting across the room left a $20 bill to go towards your meal so you only owe $1.50.”

My roommate and I were tearing up while we paid the remainder of our bill.

Earlier, we had noticed the middle-aged man who was with the boys speaking to another couple in the restaurant. Once we had paid, we went over and spoke with them and asked if they knew him. They told us his name was Todd and that he was with his youth kids. They said he was a great man – of course my roommate and I already knew this to be true. We told them to thank him for us.

I know that Todd will never read this but my roommate and I are so thankful for him – he definitely made our day! It’s those random acts of kindness that let us know that God is really moving among people. We were so blessed tonight.