Birthday Wishes

Dan and Jill on their way to a costume party

Today is Jill's, my sister-in-law's, birthday. And just to show you what kind of person she is you should know that when I came upstairs this morning to make coffee she had left a donut on the counter for me in celebration of her birthday! Nice... But she is thoughtful that way. She even lets me play her person on Mario Kart Wii since there is only room for 4 people to play. :-) She is the most creative person I know and she is the best thing to have happened to my brother. She teaches kindergarten and one day when I was unemployed she paid me to do a little work in her classroom and I got to see her in action. All I can say is I was pretty amazed at what she does in the classroom. And I'm pretty amazed at what she does at home. She loves to make cards (something that I am NOT patient at) and every now and then she'll drag out her supplies and stock up. Which I love because then she lets me use them when I need one! (See? Thoughtful...) She makes her Christmas cards, her kids Halloween costumes, the curtains that hang in the kitchen, and the best soup you will ever eat! For all I know she probably got up early and made that donut she left me!

I am thankful for the relationship that we share...you see, I live in their basement. I have since the year my brother went overseas and she asked me to move in while he was gone. Since that time I have become a missionary and am now doing what I need to do to begin my ministry in south Brazil...and I still live in the basement. And it is a tremendous blessing to me! To not have to worry about a place to live and the things that go along with that... To have one less thing to worry about on this journey is a HUGE help to me and I don't say thank you to them enough for letting me "squat" in the room downstairs. So, THANK YOU, Jill! That simple act of you asking me to move in when Dan was gone has blessed me a hundred times over. Thanks for giving up what you do so I can live with you guys. Thanks for all the movie nights (even though our movie track record is NOT good!), for feeding me, for telling me you like having me here, for really wanting me to come to your birthday dinner, for always making me a birthday dinner, for being more like a sister than a sister-in-law...I could go on but I really want to eat that donut!

So, (as they say at Disney World) have a magical birthday! :-)
I love you...