Celebrating You

Journal Entry: March 31, 2008

And in Your book they all were written
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
Psalm 139:16

I’d like to think that I am a “no big deal, no fuss” person. The simpler, the better. When it comes to my birthday, we don’t really have to celebrate it in a grand way. A quiet meal with my family, a dinner at a cozy restaurant, anything goes. And if people do not remember, it’s really quite alright.

But somehow, people always do remember. For as far back as I can recall, my birthday would always end up being very special. When I was young my parents always had a special birthday party for me. Then these past years, birthday greetings would reach me in the form of email, ecards, real cards, gifts, and countless text messages.

Looking back at my past birthdays, on my jubilee year, 5 years ago, I had a special birthday lunch with my women friends at Sweet Greens Garden Cafe้. I really enjoyed that birthday. In 2004, my sister in law Suzette prepared a lovely birthday dinner at her home for me and my close friends. In 2005, our Family Foundations International (FFI) new office was inaugurated on my birthday, and William and Ruby prepared a special birthday party for me. In 2006, I spent my birthday in Manila with my daughter who had just begun working there. In 2007 I was in Davao City with my friends Buddy and Bjorn doing an Ancient Paths seminar. Our hosts Jun-C and Titos treated us to a birthday dinner at a restaurant.

Being in Thailand, I expected my birthday this year to come and go quietly. Ernie and I had just gotten back from a hectic six-day tour of the northeast. We didn’t really make any special plans. Our son was getting married on that day, and our minds were on the last- minute arrangements we were trying to coordinate with Ernie’s sister. Somehow, we wanted the wedding to be special even without us being there.

One day before my birthday, a parcel from my friend Melanie arrived from the States. In it were packets of my favorite salad dressing, decaf tea, some pictures, and a lovely birthday card.

On the card were these words:

Celebrating You

On birthdays,
we honor
our beginnings
and remember that
in God’s eyes,
we have
a place in this world
no one else has.

What a delight it was for me to receive that gift. Yes, indeed, my birthday is a celebration of me—my beginnings, my uniqueness as a person.

Two weeks earlier, the very first birthday card for me this year arrived. It was sent by my friend Gilly from England. Then birthday ecards, and email, began coming in.

But on this my birthday, I wasn’t really thinking of myself. I was thinking of my son. He is so special and I wanted so much to be with him on his wedding day.

I believe God remembered me on my birthday. Of course we know God never forgets a birthday, but I believe God wanted me to know He was thinking of me in a special way. As soon as I woke up, there was an extraordinary peace in my heart that wasn’t there the day before.

Ernie and I prayed Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17:5-8 for our son. We had prepared a father’s blessing to be read during the ceremony, and we prayed that through it God would touch my son and his wife in a special way on their wedding day.

I got a birthday phone call from my sister in law…then that birthday text message from Ruby about which I wrote on my last blog entry, came in. When I read her text, my heart literally leaped. I grabbed my bible and read the words over and over again. You have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I sensed that my Father was speaking, and I felt His gentle and soothing presence.

The Forest Park near our flat

Every day I go through a wooded area on my way to the office. It’s a quiet grassy place with tall trees, beautiful shrubs, and probably a hundred crickets chirping in unison. I usually listen to music as I walk, and that morning there was such a joy in my heart, I must have been skipping and hopping all the way.


When I reached the office, Pui, one of the secretaries, came up to me and said, “Happy Birthday!” The vice-president’s secretary, Tu, prepared a cup of coffee for me and said, “This is for you on your birthday.” A little later, Diana, one of the secretaries of the President, said that she had asked two other Filipinos in the university to join us that evening for a special birthday dinner in my honor!


At 12 noon, the students of my English class for the administrative staff started coming in. Jumnong had a guitar, Noi had a birthday gift, Karn had a birthday cake, and Tun had a camera. They were all beaming. As I entered the classroom, they had lit the birthday candles on the cake and Jumnong was already strumming Happy Birthday on his guitar. Everybody was singing and clapping. This is something I never expected and I really felt like crying.

And that’s not all.

When 4 o’clock p.m. came, my students for this class had also something planned for me. Angkab walked in with a beautiful purple orchid plant and placed it on my desk. “Happy Birthday, teacher!” Anocha had a birthday cake, and a gift as well. Nun and Tu quickly got some plates and spoons, and again as I entered the classroom, the candles were already lit and they were all singing the Happy Birthday song for me. Each student tried to speak out a birthday greeting for me in English, then we sliced the cake and enjoyed eating it together.

After office, Diana brought Ernie and me together with two other Filipinos to Buonissimo, a special Italian restaurant, her birthday treat. We chose a table on the deck overlooking a wide river. It was a warm and lovely summer evening.

At about 5 o’clock that afternoon I received this special text from my second son, “The blessing that Auntie Sue read made the wedding very special. It was so anointed! I felt God’s presence as it was being read. Very powerful impartation of blessing.” Our first son also sent his father a similar text at about the same time.

Well, what more could I ask for? For me, this was a very special birthday gift. God, in his own special way, made my first birthday in Thailand so meaningful for me! And to think that all of this had already been written in His book even before I was born!

Ernie and I celebrated the Lord’s supper when we got home, thanking him for His love, and all that He is doing in our lives.

Indeed, it was a day to remember.