I am so happy to have had my birthday on the race!

I turned 19 on July 22, and so many wonderful things happened this day. I was already happy from the night before because I got to spend time with two of my friends living separately from me, Alex and Linnea, and watch one of my favorite movies with them! Then in the morning, I woke up in a cheap but very nice hostel in the city of Chiang Mai that I stayed at with my friends Brooks and Drew. We all got up late, and I spent the first hour of my day in the Word. I was filled with the joy and peace of the LORD, my cup overflowing - the best way to start your day.

After checking out, we went to a nice coffee shop for a little while, and then proceeded to find somewhere to get lunch. We accidentally came across this wonderful cafe that served American breakfast food, and I was all for it. the food was amazing, and my friends secretly arranged for the employees there to sing happy birthday to me - my favorite thing, as everyone knows. Yes, I don't usually enjoy that, but this time it was really sweet because the workers put in the effort to sing in English, and they also made me a slice of banana bread and put a lit candle on top of it without being asked too. After we were done eating, I went off to my own little corner and read birthday messages from family and friends, and then did some school work for a short while.

school + birthday corner

Next, we walked around the city and looked at shops for 15 minutes or so, and then found a tuk-tuk (small, Asian three-wheeled taxi) to ride in to our next destination. We went on to the bus station where we got snacks as we waited for the next bus to arrive back to the mountains, and the ride back was smooth sailing.

tuktuk

When we got back, I had received more messages from friends and family that warmed my heart, as well as some candy from my wonderful teammates. and I spent time responding to those and talking with friends until dinner was ready. As always, our host had prepared for us a wonderful and tasty dinner, and then I had a lovely time just hanging around my team for the rest of the night.

My team made a card for me that many signed and wrote a message on for me, and it really made my day. I am so thankful that God placed me here with A squad in Thailand for my birthday!