Turning 20 in India. A birthday I'll never forget.

My 20^th birthday was different today to say the least. Literally on the other side of the world and thousands of miles from my family and friends. In no way am I complaining though. Today was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I mean how many people get to say they grow out of their teenage years and turn the big ole two zero in India? I won’t bore you with the specifics, but if you would like to hear how I spent my birthday today in Lamka, India than continue reading! If you don’t care than feel free to… well… read anyways!… cause I mean, come on, what else better do you really have to do.

My day started off amazing not because it was my birthday, but because exam week (more like exam two weeks) finally ended today. Exams ending today and a full week off of school next week for semester vacation? Sounds like a birthday gift to me.

 Exams ended and immediately after a group of my 5^th and 6^th grade kids came running up with cards and hugs. Such a sweet moment, all of them were so happy to give me handmade cards. (In one card a kid drew a shark holding a flower… I don’t know what he was trying to tell me.) But I really appreciated the time the kids put in to make those cards and gifts. Truly a blessing.

 The afternoon was just a good time of relaxing and finally getting a much needed nap. Moonson season should be ending soon but today it was raining “the meat I eat for supper most nights”, aka “cats and dogs”. (Lame joke about Asian food.) But it really was raining pretty hard, but it made for a nice peaceful afternoon to catch some ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzs.
The evening is when the real good stuff happened. The hostel kids held a special time for my birthday after devotions tonight, which was very sweet. At the hostel when it’s your birthday, they always sing songs for you and some people say things that appreciate about you and they pray over you on your birthday. So when they did for me tonight it was so nice and I truly felt like another part of the family at the hostel. The Vice Principal of the school (also in charge of the hostel) gave me a traditional shawl and lots of the kids gave me little sweet gifts that showed everyone really cared. It was an amazing evening with amazing people. The night concluded with a movie night.

“NO CAKE?” you ask. No worries, when I got back to my room late tonight I found a nice KitKat Bar and jammed in the candles my parents gave me. Sounds like a perfect birthday cake to me. (SEE the picture below.)

IF YOU READ JUST ONE PART OF THIS READ THIS.             
If I learned one thing today it’s that the main thing that makes a person happiest is most likely not the biggest present or the most colorful card, it’s the people that surround them. Like tonight just the way that the kids sang and smiled when thanking me, made me feel so welcome. I felt at home tonight. Yes I desperately missed my family and friends, but concentrating on that would do me no good. And yes, for my birthday today, I was far away from the original place my good mama birthed me, but in no way did I feel alone today. I was surrounded by people that cared about me and joked with me and made me feel loved. I got witness tradition today and share a special time with a different group of people. I got to have new experiences and new memories that I'll never forget.
 I miss everyone back home. But I am in a place I NEVER EVER would’ve thought I would be in, surrounded by such sweet people. God is better than things we imagine, He put me in a better place than I ever could’ve accomplished by myself. I’m blessed to be where I am today and I am so very thankful for everyone all over the world who celebrated my birthday with me or wished me a happy birthday over Facebook! Thank you for supporting me and making it possible for me to come over here to India and celebrate my birthday. Without your prayers and support I couldn’t be here.
God is good. God is very good.

 PICTURES … below don’t miss em.

My KitKat birthday cake.

A traditional shawl showing appreciation for me on my birthday. (The vice principal and his wife.)

Receiving a special necklace they made and dedicated for my mom.

Surrounded by lovely people.

Surrounded by bros I'll never forget.

An awesome kid.

Thanks for reading. Pat yourself on the back for being awesome and reading my whole post.