Birthday Party

Today we had a party to celebrate our son's 5th birthday.

We had a large scheduled guest list of 12 children, plus our own 3. Having learned much from our disorganization of last year's party, we knew that we needed to be better organized this year. My wife and Jeannette did the bulk of the planning and practical detail preparation, around the theme of jungle animals. We also had 3 other friends (Papy Alain, Lindsey, and François) who helped at the party.

In the end, 10 kids came today, including 9 from our son's class. Two ended up not coming. We had a beautifully sunny day, so we were able to take everyone out into the back gardens of our complex for several games.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, including our kids. Several classmates mentioned that it was really fun for them. Several of the parents were amazed that we invited so many kids. Had we known the weather would be as nice, we could have invited a couple more of them.

We're also thankful for the prayers of many friends for this event. It definitely was a successful relationship builder.

Earlier tonight I watched the film "Bridget Jones' Diary" in French. I've never seen it in English, so the language might be racier than what I caught in French. However, it did make me thankful that my single bachelor days have been over for nearly 10 years now. I'm thankful for a loving wife and 3 kids.

It struck me while helping in Sunday School this morning and in having this party that I really enjoy being around children now. While I did lots of youth ministry in the past, I didn't really feel comfortable doing children's ministry. This new ease in being around kids can definitely be attributed to being around my kids.

An old dog in midlife can be taught new tricks.