Better Than A Puppy!

We hosted a Sweet 16 party last night.  And, while I realize that back at home March Madness abounds, this party had nothing to do with college basketball and everything to do with Sarah Beth.  It is hard to believe that she is really 16 years old.

For months Kellye and I had been struggling with what we should get SB for her birthday.  This was 16 after all, but life in Moscow is different that life at home.  There would be no driver's license on her 16th.  And there certainly wouldn't be a car -- not that there would have been if we still lived in Middleburg.  But we wanted to make this a special and memorable birthday for her.  So we were always on the lookout to see what kind of meaningful gift we could get her for this milestone birthday.  And, we were struggling.  Until one night around 4 months ago when SB was sitting in her room making plans for her Sweet 16 party.  Things were going along pretty well, but I started to hear sobs coming from her room.  When I went in to check on her, she looked at me through make-up smeared eyes and said, "my best friends isn't going to be here for my party."

Time to digress and give a little background.  Last year before moving to Russia Sarah Beth had the opportunity to come to Eastern Europe and live and work with a missionary family in Prague for 6 weeks.  During that time she was able to attend the region's annual meeting where all of the missionaries (and the missionary kids (MKs) get together for a week.  During that time she made wonderful friends.  She didn't even want to come back home, just meet us in Moscow when we finally got here!  And that is where she met Anna.  Anna has lived in Russia for most of her life and she lives in a city that is a full day's travel north of Moscow.  She and SB became fast friends and they communicate via Internet nearly every day.  And, while SB has many friends here in Moscow, Anna is her closest.  So when Kellye and I found her sobbing about Anna not being in here for her party we knew immediately what her "big present" would be.  I don't even think I waited for her to go to sleep that night before I hid in my room with my computer and sent Anna's dad an email asking if we could bring her down for the weekend.

The timing of this surprise was tricky and it was a coordinated effort to keep the cat in the bag.  Anna arrived Thursday night and stayed with other friends of ours (and hers, of course) in Moscow and even attended a play at Hinkson that night.  Thankfully we had just returned from Kiev that afternoon and SB was too tired to even ask to go to the play.  Then SB went to school for her chorus class on Friday, so we had to make sure that none of her friends accidentally mentioned that Anna was in town or that they had seen her at the play the night before.  As time for the party arrived it seemed as if "the package" was still a secret and SB was still hoping to get a pet for her birthday present.

So, this was the scene as the teenagers arrived for the party...

We had a really great time last night.  SB has a wonderful set of friends who are truly a joy to be around.  We are blessed that God has allowed us to serve in a place where there are lots of teenagers who are believers and who provide SB with such a wonderful network of friends.  And, let me say again how proud we are of Sarah Beth.  She is a wonderful, smart, funny and beautiful young woman who adds immeasurable amounts to our family.  She has dealt with this transition extremely well and has become a leader to her siblings.  We are quite blessed to have her as our oldest daughter.

In the days to come I will be sharing my version of  "The Kiev Chronicles" -- the account of our first trip out of the country and four days of Russian language immersion.  So, stay tuned....