Happy Birthday Dad!

My parents were in town for several days. It was WONDERFUL having them here to help me move and sort stuff and paint and make things homey.

And they were here for dad's 63rd birthday! The day was spent running around doing errands. Coming home we didn't think mom would fit! But dad can make anything fit. Can you see her in the first picture? Where's Waldo...

Dad wanted steak for his birthday. We used to go to a Steak & Ale up near Colonial, so thought we would try that, but it was gone! Not even the building was there anymore. Driving down Colonial we saw "La Cantina's Steakhouse." The parking lot was packed out which is usually a promising sign, and it had the word steak in the title. Another good sign.

While having our 25-minute wait to get a table, a conversation struck up with a man who told us that he had been going to La Cantina for 35 years. "It's the best steak around. AND it's local," he informed us. Even better! we said. We chatted with the man for a good 15 minutes or so before his buzzer went off and he left us. Once we made it to our table, we decided to go all out. We got an appetizer and each ordered our own steak how we liked it; no meal sharing, and mom and dad were getting filet mignons. As we enjoyed our appetizer & salads, our waitress came over and said, "A man named Steve has picked up your tab. He's sitting over there." Our eyes followed her gesture, and the man we had been talking to waved at us.

Can you believe it???!!! We sure couldn't. Dad went over to thank him, and Steve said, "Thanks for listening to me talk about my son" (his son has William's Syndrome). We had talked about a lot more than his son, but for some reason that made an impression on him. WOW!

A couple days later we went to my favorite restaurant in Orlando, Gloria's Cafe. Our waitress randomly asked if it was someone's birthday and a little later we all had a surprise when she brought out Tres Leches and a serenader and made a bunch of noise. Fun times you can watch here.

Adjustments

A public apology on texting. I am finding out not everyone has texting service in America, and the length of my texts may be costing people more than I realize (sorry!). In Asia, texting is the main mode of communication. Oddly, cell phones are almost the only kind of phones in use (on my jungle island they completely bypassed landlines). If I have been costing you pretty pennies, please tell me.

Raw & Fresh

My entire Saturday afternoon dripped away on a raw milk hunt. My eyeballs and brain were swimming in online articles and videos on the subject (like the ones on mootoyou). Finally I tore myself away at 6:45, telling myself I really needed to get out of the house before such a beautiful day came to an end. I stole a glance at the next 3 verses in Mark to digest on my walk.

As I set off, I reviewed Mark 1 out loud, ending with the story of Jesus healing Simon's mother-in-law, which I wanted to process through. I stopped myself, remembering to pray first. I was surprised to hear in my prayer that my desire for Jesus was starting to sound like my new desire for milk! I have been overwhelmed by so many spiritual books to read and sermons to listen to. It is good, inspiring stuff! But there is no end to it all! And I am entering a phase where all I want is Jesus and His Word. His stories. Raw and fresh. Don't pasteurize or homogenize it, add vitamins to it, or do anything to it. Give it to me straight. All the nutrition I need is there for the taking. Just give me Jesus.