WOW! What a party we had Sunday after church. There was so much joy, and so many smiles and hugs I think I floated off the ground for nearly two hours. It was my 80th birthday and my friends absolutely spoiled me.
It was a complete reversal of the previous day when we had gone down to finish the decoration of the church hall, only to find a mix up and another group already there…bewildering but we coped and went down two hours later.
My mother always said things come in threes and sure enough at the service the next morning, some scripture got included in the reading that didn’t quite match the sermon’s focus…but a little extra scripture never hurt anyone; and the men’s chorus missed a line in their first anthem…but the second one was sung with such enthusiasm that we clapped along as we were caught up in the music.
So, that was it. The rest of the day was a success…a complete success.
The interesting thing was that the sermon was about that little man Zacchaeus and how he climbed into a tree to see Jesus. Well when it came to thanking my church friends for the food and fellowship, I climbed onto a chair and gave them thanks that were straight from my heart. Like Zacchaeus I am a small person and sometimes small people have to go to great lengths to be heard and noticed.
Later I visited my daughter Robin. Little did I know that she had phoned her sister Lyn a week earlier and said “Get Mom’s streudel recipe for me, I want to make her a batch of streudles for her birthday.” So she tried them twice before my birthday and the ones on that special day weren’t bad at all. I have been trying for over 50 years to make streudels the way Harry’s mom did and have come close about three times, so Robin’s were pretty good.
And homemade cherry pie (my favourite) finished off the meal. Who could ask for anything more?
So another cross-road has been passed. I, who wondered what I would do after Harry died, have done so much. God’s plan for me is being fulfilled. He has marked the steps and we laugh together as we think about what could He possibly have in store for me next…there has been new babies as three great-grandchildren arrived, new writing opportunities, new friends, a new hip and the list goes on and on.
God has certainly blessed me and surprised me too…and like the lyrics go in the first solo I ever sang…(Can a little child like me)…I keep repeating. ..”Father, we thank thee, Father we thank thee, Father in heaven we thank thee!”
Photo by Eliza Adam via Flickr, CC 2.0
