Suksan Wangut Kha!!

[The title of this post means "Happy Birthday" just in case you want to tell a friend Happy Birthday in Thai...]

Oh where to begin?? These past 2 days have been absolutely wonderful in so many ways! Let me just dive right in and tell you all about it! (Sorry for the length! I sprinkled in some videos and pictures though!)

On Sunday nights, we always have team time. It usually consists of dinner and some sort of activity like a movie or what not. This week, though, the boys of the Faculty of Science ministry team asked us Faculty of Science girls on a group date (no worries, the boys of the other ministries asked the other girls on a group date as well...). So I pile into the carryboy like any other night, thinking we are going to dinner and meeting up with the team later, but it was when Bill handed me a note, or rather Clue #1, when I realized I had no idea what was going on. The next series of clues took about an hour and a half to get, and included a trip around the entire campus. We made pit stops at Jay Pawn for dinner, Pigazzo (a coffee shop near our apartment that we frequent, a lot), the church gym, the pool, and the final destination Central!

All my clues! So very clever. Thank you Abby and Milcah!

As we pulled into Central, I was told to close my eyes, and thanks to Luke's undershirt, my eyes were closed for me. 

We spent about 15 min. wandering through Central, in which I was told I was getting a ton of stares. Ha, I decided to just wave at everyone... plus that lessened the suspicion of me being abducted in broad daylight and needing a Thai to rescue me (hey, you can never be too careful!). We finally reached the destination, I was sat down in a chair and was told to take off my blindfold only to to see the entire team surrounding me in a circle singing "Happy Birthday" as loud as they could [reminder: we are in the middle of a gigantic mall and there is 19 Americans yelling.... yes, hilarious is an understatement]. It was truly awesome (and here's a little vulnerability, I just teared up writing this), and to make it even better, a hot cinnamon sugar Auntie Anne's pretzel was waiting for me!

The night wasn't done though! We then went bowling! So. MUCH. Fun! The night ended back at the good ole Great Diamond where Milcah and Abby had one last surprise for me. A homemade coconut cake (well 2 actually)!

(Photo courtesy of Abby) The team bowling! Such a fun night,
I am so thankful for every single one of these people! Wow,
love them so much!

Monday morning, I woke up early to Skype my ENTIRE family who was at my house celebrating Father's Day. It was seriously the best birthday present I could have asked for! They even had a cake for me to blow out candles via the internet! 

Then, another surprise! Kathryn walks in with her computer and this gem below is playing. Please watch this. Wow, is all I can say. It was made by a girl that I have become close to here! She also did a serious one, but this one truly won over my heart. Watch and enjoy. [the serious video is so sweet and can be found on my Facebook wall as well as YouTube... ha]

The rest of the day was equally awesome. We had lunch at the Complex as usual, but seriously every single Thai girl we had ever met came up and wished me a happy birthday (thank you P'Fone!). I even was given some Thai ice cream with this surprise at the bottom....

Thai dessert and the SNOWGLOBE!!!

We ended the night with dinner at Jay Pawn (of course!) and some Thai Karaoke!! It was a ton of fun! And a huge blessing was that we had the most girls come to this event than we have had all summer! What a great birthday present!

Thank you so much for making my birthday so special! I love you two!
(P'Fone gave me a card signed by all the students and staff I had met and also
a t-shirt that says Nursing in Thai and English! I. Love. It.)

(Photo courtesy of P'Fone) Thank you to all you girls!
You made my birthday so special!

I am so thankful for this wonderful birthday. I want to thank the team for making my birthday special while away from home. I want to thank my family for making feel so very special halfway across the world. And I want to thank my new friends here in Thailand for making me feel so special even when you barely know me! 

Keep praying that God will open up the hearts of the students we have met, especially the girls above. Pray for continued health and healing for our team members, both physically and spiritually. And please pray for energy and perseverance as we are hitting week 4 here! 

Until next time....