The day I turned 31.

Yesterday was my birthday.

It was a humble and modest day.

I woke up sick, not having slept the night before due to a nasty cold. By mid afternoon I had a fever. But one thing I have learned since moving to Burkina is that there is no such thing as, "I think I'll stay in bed today" kinda days.

I wanted to stay in bed yesterday. I wanted to wear sweat pants and watch movies and not move. But Africa does not allow that. You must wake up, and get dressed, and brush your hair, and accept the fact that people will come to your gate that you will have to answer.

So I got dressed. I brushed my hair. And I went about my day as I normally would. 

And it was fine.

I liked this birthday.

It was normal.

Odette arrived for work first thing in the morning.
Our vegetable guy came by bright and early to deliver my basket.
Then the electricity guy came over.
Then some Embassy workers.
Then Joseph came over, our Malian friend who is suppose to be in Mali because we bought him a bus ticket to go back there....and yet he is here. More on that later.....
Next a school girl stopped by needing some water.
Then some friends arrived late in the afternoon to load up the chairs from the baptism party.

In addition to spending the day with Marvelly, doing school with her, playing Pocahontas on the patio, cleaning my large basket of veggies, blowing my nose till it felt like it would fall off, and talking to a couple friends on the phone to receive birthday wishes.

When Isaak got home from work, he went to a nearby ice cream parlor and picked up some ice cream, and a tiny piece of cake, and him and the girls sang "happy birthday" to me. And Sydaleigh presented me with a paper bag book she made me for my present.

We ended the night playing "Go Fish" in my bed so that I could lay down but still spend time with the family. And I won...which was only fitting since it was my birthday. :~)

Throughout the day I kept thinking....about all the things that we expect from others on our birthdays. We pollute our brain with false thinking that we deserve to be spoiled because it is our one day out of the year to be celebrated. We place our value and importance on how many birthday cards we get, the amount of presents we receive, the cost of the presents, or the thought that went into buying the presents, or the creativity of the gifts. We measure people's love for us based on whether they throw us a party, or we go out with friends to celebrate, or buy us flowers, and the kind of restaurant we eat at....McDonalds or Melting Pot? Which indicates the greater degree of love? We measure our worth based on how many Facebook friends write birthday wishes on our wall, how many family members call us...and the list goes on.

And we think that if those expectations of what we deem adequate celebration aren't met...we are less loved, or less valued, or not important to others.

But that is a lie. I've had birthdays when I've have had flowers, and gifts and parties and cards, and ate at my favorite restaurants, with my favorite cakes with my favorite people. 

I've had all those things.

And then I've had birthday's like yesterday.

Birthdays that are spent at home. Modest. No parties. No restaurant. No presents. Just the quiet celebration of having lived through another year. And it doesn't make me any less loved, or valued, or esteemed to have celebrated without all the fanfare and spoils.

I liked my birthday. I liked the day I turned 31.

I got to spend it living. I got to spend it loving. And I even got to spend it eating my favorite ice creams...mint chocolate chip and my new favorite, Chocolate Crunch (some mysterious African flavor that we have yet to discover what the actual crunch is...but oh man is it yummy.)

And that is more than good enough for me.

Feeling blessed with less on my birthday still left me overflowing.

To my 31st year of life....

 (For the record, Sydaleigh is not starving, she is just ribby :~) )