Usually I don’t like it when a birthday falls on a busy work day, and Sunday’s for me is one of the busiest. Crazy busy. However, today’s birthday was so incredible!

I got a good night sleeps and jumped out of bed ready to go after it. Sara hadn’t told me what she had planned for the day, so I was just anticipating whatever she had planned. She’s usually pretty good at this kind of stuff. last night she mentioned us needing to leave about 15 minutes early than I had planned. However, this morning Titus was really sleeping hard, so she decided to stay home. Fine with me. I asked her why we had planned to leave 15 minutes early. She said it was to stop by Krispy Kream to pick up some donuts. I decided that I should honor her and get the donuts anyway… so I did. I also picked up a dozen for my team and whatever volunteers wanted a fat, juicy donuts.

I got to church and my team all wished me a happy birthday. It was very sweet of them to remember. My new elementary director was hiding behind a half wall on all fours and barked at me when I passed. I just about peed in my pants, so funny!

Okay, day was going great. All of my small group leaders showed up for 9:30 expect for one who called in sick. Just as I found out I’d be short, the wife of another small group leader who’d offered to help when I was in a jam walked right by me. Ha! Now I had all my small group leaders. During the larger group time of the elementary service, the production team called me on stage and had the kids sing happy birthday. Just at that moment, I was attacked with 8-10 cans of silly string. Ha! It was so much fun.

Then the 11:00 service rolled around. I had three small group leaders who hadn’t shown up yet and hadn’t called in sick. Just before I had the chance to get worried, they all showed up. I was two for two. Then my wife called. She said that the check-in area in our building had called her cell phone looking for me, some kind of emergency. So, I ran downstairs and as I got to the first floor, I saw my friends JD and Shelby. JD and Shelby attended our church in Keller, TX and lived two houses down from us. They recently moved to Waco and are very close friends to Sarah and I. My heart skipped a beat. Seeing old friends in your new home is a wonderful feeling! Sara was there with them… that little sneak. She was pretty good.

During the 11:00 service we had several new small group leaders observing and starting new small groups. In addition, I was meeting with three ladies who were helping me start a volunteer admin team, something I’ve never had before. How awesome is that? They’re going to do data entry, communications and various other admin tasks.

Then 12:30 came and passed and I had a boatload of small group leaders at that service as well. It was a great Sunday when everything came together so perfectly. I went home and hung out with Sara and my good friends and opened some presents. I got a lot of really cools stuff including money (I’m saving up for various “toys for older boys.” 🙂 However, I did get a Nintendo Game Cube. Someone was shopping my wish list. So cool!

Then we all took off for Outback. Yeah, I know. I live in Austin, TX (Keep Austin Weird). With all the great food, why got to Outback? Well, Outback used to be my favorite restaurant. I would take Sara there when we were dating in college (where I taught Sara to appreciate a good steak), and for special dates, like my 21st birthday, she’d take me to Outback. So, we went and it was great! Totally great!

Titus actually had a blast too. At the end of the night, he decided to fill up both his diaper and pants with a little surprise. Ha. Sara brought him out of the Outback bathroom in nothing but a diaper.

So, it was a great day.