Act Normal: my first costume/birthday party

It was the moment I knew my party was a success.

The night before I felt like calling it off. I was too nervous that it would flop and be boring. But it was too late to back out gracefully because I'd sent out invitations and had been talking about it for weeks. I was going to have a birthday party. There was no getting around it. "Can't go around it! Gotta go through it!" The words of 'Goin on a bear hunt' swirled in my head.

I wasn't sure how it would go with all my worlds colliding but I knew I loved everyone who I invited and I hoped they would at least tolerate each other. They did much better than tolerate, they seemed to get along pretty well!

I knew I was having a wonderful time but I wasn't sure how they rest of them felt until that moment. The one that blew my worries and expectations away. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably (exceedingly abundantly above) more than all we ask or imagine" I almost missed it. Had the wind changed a moment earlier or the crowd gone outside a moment later, it would've been too loud for me to overhear the conversation that took my silly party to whole other realm of beautiful.

The moment I keep referring to was a simple yet powerful discussion between my dad and another dad. These two men are completely different in almost every way. Though separated by 25 years in age and walking vastly different lives they have one powerful thing in common. They each have a son with a developmental disability. This commonality bonds them in a unique way and they can talk about their experiences.

I didn't hear the whole conversation but I didn't need to. What is sealed in my heart as treasure are my dad's words "when he was diagnosed I had a family member come up to me and ask what sin I had committed". It wasn't the words themselves that blew me away but the fact that my dad was sharing that painful memory with a man he'd known for all of 25 minutes. He rarely talks about those days, and never with new people.

It has long been a dream of mine to bring parents, especially dads, together who have wisdom and empathy (not pity) to share with one another. The thought hadn't crossed my mind that it could happen at my costume birthday party amidst food, games, and music. But there it was happening before my very eyes! I'm just so very glad I didn't miss it.

Here are a bunch of pics from the best birthday I've had since last year ;) enjoy!!

I made my invitations because I had a specific look in mind and didn't want to pay for it.

Mary Poppin's tape measure

my mom and my (honorary) sister Jen
(my mom's still learning how to take selfies)

Mary Poppins, Bridesmaid, Blind Referee
these two will do almost anything for me :)

Vicky, my friend and coworker

Cousins

these two boys make me so happy
Logan came as Captain America
Jeremiah came as Spiderman
I get to hang out with them each week at church. They teach me a lot.