Happy Birthday, Mom!

One of the bittersweet things about going overseas again is doing things or seeing people and wondering if it may be the last time. I remember the first time we went to Burkina Faso in 1997. Kathy’s parents were in their late 70s already and it was tough for them to see us leave for the next four years, and for us too, not knowing if either of them would be alive when we got back. So I asked God to please allow us to return to see them at least one last time. He was gracious and we got to come home and see them several more times before Kathy’s mom passed away in early 2005.

We’ve made it a point when we’re home in Canada to go and spend time with our parents on their birthdays. This becomes especially important to us as the time for our departure draws closer.

Today, we drove up to Huntsville and spent most of the day with my mom. It’s her 77th birthday and we wanted to seize the occasion and help her celebrate it.

She told us not to bring any presents, so we disobediently got some anyway and enjoyed watching her open them. Then we took her out for lunch at a unique restaurant called “Three Guys and a Stove”. By the time we were done, it was pouring rain outside and we had to run for the car. And once we got back to her place, it was raining so hard that we had to wait in the car for 20 minutes until it settled down enough to make a run for the back door.

None of this is a big deal in the overall scheme of things, but these are the things memories are made of, the kinds of things we will look back on with fondness and nostalgia when we get tired, lonely, and discouraged in the years ahead in Burkina. Happy birthday, Mom!