It's True! I'm Older!

Is it ladylike to tell my age? The lines of etiquette have been so blurred these days. You know, it seems there's no longer black and white, no right or wrong! So I think I'll take a chance here and just tell ya' -- Saturday was my forty eighth birthday! I was born November 8, 1960, the day JFK was elected as President of the United States.


I had a full day Saturday, which is a good thing, as I was still feeling gloomy due to the outcome of the presidential election. Our church has been in it's missions conference this past week, with Saturday being a busy day of interacting with the missionaries in attendance.



I headed off for an 11:00 Ladies Missionary Tea. I got home around 1:30 p.m. to fix Agustin's lunch and send him off to work. I then set to making my signature Banana Pudding to take to the IN HOME FELLOWSHIP DINNER later in the evening.

Without further adieu, here are some photos of how I spent my birthday.

Some of the gifts I received.

A crystal Christmas ornament.

Three C.D. s. A friend's sister is the artist.

Some "unmentionables" LOL

Body care, scrapbooking goodies, and sugar free Jelly Belly jellybeans!

Here are some of the ladies gathered at our Saturday morning tea with missionary wives as special guests. (They're on the far right end of the table.) We had several tables squeezed into our small fellowship hall at church. When our Christian day school grew in number, we were forced to partition off half of the fellowship hall for school offices and a few more classrooms. What a blessing! That's a "good" problem to have to deal with.

More church friends.



More ladies enjoying Christian fellowship.

Future wives and moms! Possibly missionaries?




More ladies sharing tea.

Here are the gals that sat at my table. What a great group of girls these sisters are. They're all homeschooled and so musically talented! They performed the special music after tea, before the missionary wives each took turns speaking to us.

Each missionary wife shared her unique perspective about her and her spouse's ministry. We had representatives from Batswana, Guam, and the Ivory Coast. Our key note speaker was a pastor's wife from right here in the USA, (I think from Arkansa) Mrs. Twila Jones. My heart was truly pricked and moved as Sarah Le Clercq shared with us just how much the kindness shown to her two small sons was so appreciated. As a mother, she wanted to give her kids a NORMAL life. She now realizes the life her boys are embarking on is so much better than NORMAL! See my sister's post HERE to get a clearer picture on what I mean by "better than normal!"

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE LINK, IT WILL BLESS YOUR HEART!

You see, her little family is on deputation, which involves much traveling and much time in the car. This dear lady is also pregnant, due in February. She wept as she tried to share her heart with us. It is always a blessing to my heart to see how godly people respond to Christian love.This dear lady was treated to a day spa and admitted it was her first time ever to receive a pedicure. Once again, God reminded me how I take SO MUCH for granted in my life.

Isn't this a sweet little teacup and saucer I brought home? Each lady in attendance brought a teacup and saucer. These were set up on the serving table so that each lady could choose the cup they would like to keep! I chose this Christmas one since we are quickly moving into that season!

My sons called to wish me a Happy Birthday. That brought a smile.

To close out the day, the IN HOME FELLOWSHIP DINNER was

a fun, casual time spent in the home of one of our deacons. Three families in our church hosted the dinners. Pastor assigned a missionary family to each one of the host homes. We were honored to have the key speaker of the week dine with us. We gathered around the grand piano in the living room and sang several hymns. It was GLORIOUS! The acoustics were phenomenal as our voices harmonized throughout the house and onto the lanai where the overflow was.

My favorite hymn sung was "Just A Closer Walk With Thee". To close the evening, Pastor Clark gave a devotional, encouraging us to get the gospel out, to reach lives for Christ. Stressing that our only hope for this country is Christ, not government.

I then came home and awaited the return of my husband. He has promised me a dinner out on his next day off.

So there you have it, a recap of my birthday!