Birthday blessings

I turned 56 last Monday, and it has been one of my best birthdays ever. And now I finally have a chance to blog about it.





Saturday D. gave Joanna her Mandarin lesson and then the two of them prepared this incredible meal:

Beijing Duck
Fried Rice with Taiwanese Sausage
Green onion bing with beef
Chinese chicken salad
Asperagas
Fresh pineapple

Later D. and I had another great long discussion about "Lost," thinking who we most identified with as a character.

Then Sunday, after church, L. and D. and Joanna rushed back to our house and prepared a delicious whole pork loin stuffed with apples, apricots and raisins, and glazed with with thickened apple juice. They also roasted chunks of parsnips, carrots, turnips and sweet potatoes, and complemented it with rosemary bread. Finally, J. brought two cakes--one chocolate, one lemon, and an unbelievably rich chocolate brownie torte with lovely ruffles of whipped cream.

B and K gave me a huge bunch of daphne in an antique vase; its scent perfumed the whole first floor as we dined. There were 13 of us around the table, laughing, discussing, wondering what the future would hold. And it felt just like birthdays when I was a kid on Theiss Road. This time, though, instead of only blood relatives, I was surrounded by family and friends in the Blood.

What a wonderful gift that is! I am humbled and so grateful to have had this foretaste of heaven for my birthday.