Surprise Party

As I reflect on this year, one of the highlights was my birthday. Often birthdays are not always filled with happy memories. This year, given that I was coming from Urbana and vacation, I didn’t have lots of time to plan for my birthday. So, when the day came I didn’t have lots of plans, but then was showered with love from my community.

I had breakfast with my staff partner Jamie, and got to have a great talk. I had a late afternoon meeting with my supervisor, which also was a great time. The biggest surprise of the night came when “my knights” invited me to dinner, they were pretty vague on the details (I taught them well), and I wasn’t sure what to expect when I met with them. They managed to convince me we were just going to have a quiet dinner, just the three of us. When we got to the restaurant, I saw there was a large table filled with OCFers (and a few wannabe OCFers)! I was surprised and moved! I wasn’t expecting gifts, but the ones I received were significant and sentimental. I was blown away that in the 4 months I had been at OCAD, that these students cared enough to do this. I later found out the main planners for this party were my students who had attended Urbana, and they started these plans while they were in St. Louis!

And as I recount this story, I’m reminded that the last time students threw me a “surprise party”, was actually my first official year on staff at Ryerson. And as I make this connection, I’m grateful for God’s timing, provision and movement. I’m eager to see what will come in my next few years with the OCF community, and I hope it is as fruitful and memorable as my time at Ryerson.