Monday was H-G’s fourth birthday and she has been looking forward to it, and asking questions about it for months. The theme this year was “princess party” and it was definitely that. There were about six girls who came wearing princess attire. There were tiaras, foe mink shoulder throws, jewelry galore, and of course fancy dresses.

I was the designated butler who greeted the guests, took drink orders (pink lemonade or banana tangerine), served the tea, and waited the table. I was the only “boy” allowed. The party began by girls being allowed to add to their outfit from a tote full of accessories. They then made a foam crown and pasted various ornamentation on them. Then it was time for tea and sandwiches, followed by dessert. They discussed tea etiquette (like keeping your little finger up when drinking and blotting with your napkin, not swiping).

There were a couple of games and then they all put on play clothes and played in the backyard. I don’t think Hannah-Grace quit smiling the whole time.

The real star of the party was Kimberly. She went all out and planned the whole thing from start to finish. A couple of weeks ago I preached on the Proverbs 31 woman and during the whole party that was all I could think — This party is great, my daughter is extremely happy and it’s all because my wife put so much effort to make this special for her. She wore a formal dress, put up all kinds of decorations including a chair decoration for H-G that was made of a pink plastic table clothe and crepe paper, and prepared all the food. There were little sandwiches in the shapes of hearts. All I can is wow!

I will post some pictures from slide.com and if their ads are there just click on the x at the top right corner to see the pictures of the party.

Tonight we experimented with a new ministry called “The Venue.” Daybreak has a desire to reach the 18 to 29 year olds who don’t seem to have a church to call their own. So we brought in four bands and they blasted their music at deafening decibels. In between songs they would share what Christ meant to them and the only thing that would have made it better were if we knew what the words were. Perhaps the youth knew but because I am over 29 I can no longer recognize such things (which means that I am mature now — I guess). We served free food and drinks and the bands sold their “merch.”

The night was winding down so I decided to head home and help Kimberly get ready for H-G’s birthday party tomorrow. I had been home for about five minutes when Donna S. called me and was asking for help. One of the bands had a smoke machine which set off the fire alarm, which we have no clue how to turn it off. There were no instructions anywhere. I instructed them over the phone as best I could, but no luck. So I jumped in the car and headed back; the firemen figured out how to turn the extremely obnoxious screeching alarms off. After cleaning up and locking up, we left the building hoping that no more alarms will go off.

Over all the experience was exhausting and stressful, but worth it. We were able to share Christian testimonies to over 100 kids and parents. But next time we will know ahead of time how to turn the alarm off.