Celebrating your  birthday far away from family for the first time is something that most of us have to do at one time or another.  I just celebrated my 22nd birthday on October first.
 My birthday started out great with a phone call from my sister Vanessa at 6:55 am, just before I had to cross the street to head for what was to be one of my best days of school yet.
 The first two classes of the day seemed go pretty normal.  A few students told me happy birthday, but besides that things followed the normal routine.  All of that changed in my next class, 8th grade science.  My science classroom is a short one minute walk from my computer lab, so I usually walk into the classroom right at 8:45 when class starts.  I opened the door of the science room, and there was a second of darkness before the lights were flipped on and 23 8th graders were yelling “SURPRISE!”  They had organized a party complete with sodas, candy and chips.  After handing out all the food we proceeded to play movie charades.  It was quite a bit of fun although we never did get around to teaching any science to the 8th graders that day.
 I have 5 minutes in between classes, and so after 8th grade science I headed to the office as I usually do, to check my mailbox and get a drink of water as the 8th graders leave and the 6th graders enter the room.  Upon entering the classroom for grade 6 science, I was again greeted by a dark room.  The lights came on and for a second it looked as if my classroom was empty, but then 26 6th graders jumped out from behind their desks and treated me to a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday to You”.  It was a very nice surprise. The 7th graders followed that up with another surprise party, food and all.
 By this time I was getting quite full of cake, chips and sodas.  But the day did not end there.  When I came home I received a call from my girlfriend Jessica, and my parents.  That evening, I thought the day was finally coming to an end.  We decided to go to Big Dipper, my favorite ice cream spot for a cone.  Well, I got there and once again I had a little birthday party.  Friends from church and school had joined together and I even got some presents!  We ate cake (the third time that day for me!) and had a good time of fellowship.
 I went to bed that night and just thanked the Lord for all the different ways in which he had shown his love to me that day, and every day.  It doesn’t matter where you might be.  Anywhere in the world, in Iowa, or in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, God’s love reaches you there.  His love has no boundaries, and His church is all around the world.  To know that is such a comfort for me at times when I miss family and other people back home.  His love is true, steadfast and neverending, what an awesome God!