Tuesday, 23 October 2007

What was the best birthday present you got?

What was the best birthday present you got?

Ooh, tough one. There's probably a tie on this one between the presents I received on my 20th and my 22nd birthdays.

On my 20th birthday, I tried several times with no success to plan a party/gathering with my friends to no success because my parents kept nixing them for whatever reason. They had planned this great big anniversary surprise dinner for some family friends and said that my plans were too close to this dinner and they wanted to be part of whatever I was planning. I was mad.

Well, the joke was on me and my anger turned to slight guilt later. The very next night, after this big dinner, my friends baited me over to the exact same location of the dinner and managed to get me to go inside, where Mom and Dad had a surprise party waiting for me. I had never had a surprise party before, and to have one from the combined efforts of my parents and my friends really floored me. A birthday party made me happy enough, but Mom and Dad gave me an amazing gift when I turned 20, too: a digital camera. I was absolutely thrilled when I opened the present and it's been wonderful. I've taken it on two Chapel Choir tours, it came with me to Europe, I've used it to capture tons of memories at Hope and over the summers, and it still works great.

The 22nd is a gift I gave myself, but the "present" was going to Lansing to see Jeremy Camp in concert. I got to see my favorite Christian artist in person, meet him for a very short time, scored a nice autograph, and found out that by all indications, he's for real his walk with Christ. Oh, and I got to share all this with a great friend: ROSS REYNOLDS!!!! And that trusty digital camera from my 20th came along too and captured some visual memories.

A surprise party, a camera, and a concert. They're great gifts, and I loved them. I'll always remember Becky, Kevin, and Angela suckering me into the Community Room at Sherman Oaks. I still love my camera. And I'll always remember sharing an evening with ROSS REYNOLDS!!!! in Lansing where Jeremy Camp led a massive worship experience mislabeled as a concert.

But the memories and the people connected to them are way more important to me.

Currently Listening Stay By Jeremy Camp Breaking My Fall see related