Dear Alec,
I must start this letter with true confessions. Although the date on this post is indeed your April 8 birthday, the writing of this post actually took place on September 21. Truth be told, your birthday this year was quite unusual and perhaps it's only fitting that your annual post be eccentric as well.
As your 14th birthday drew closer, so did our family's departure date for furlough. The to-do list was growing and one pending item was oral surgery for both you and your little brother Silas. Wouldn't you know that the oral surgeon chose April 8 as the date he could operate on each of you? I asked you if you minded and whether you preferred we request another date, since birthday cake would be out of the question until a later time. You said it didn't matter. Only afterwards, I realized it actually did.
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Irony of ironies, after all the emotional and paperwork preparation - including hospital check in and suiting the two of you AND Mom and Dad in surgical garments - the surgery was canceled. An important machine broke down during the intervention prior to yours and the surgeon could not continue.
What an ordeal! You were hungry and we hoped to salvage the day by ordering from our favorite Smash Burger joint but being a Sunday that, too, was closed. I share all this to say that I realize it was a pretty lousy 14th birthday (humanly speaking) and I am still sorry, five months later. I do know that God doesn't make mistakes and I believe that somehow He protected you that day from physical harm. Maybe we'll find out in eternity!
You had hoped to helped bake your own birthday cake this year, ideally something Haitian although our online searches didn't provide many traditional options. But in the midst of the busyness that got lost in the shuffle and it wasn't until Father's Day, June 19 that we actually planted candles in a cake that was your second choice (tres leches!) We were at the Fishers' house and joined by your cousins and ministry friends.
Alec, I hope your 14th year is so much better than your actual birthday was and I know God has GOOD plans for you to make it so. I pray that you will learn to look for that goodness every day and rejoice in it. It will be a different year as we live in the States and you attend a new school, but I know there will be so many rich experiences and ways that God will reveal His faithfulness to us.
I love you, Alec, and enjoy learning new things through you. Frankly, I never thought I'd ever attend a boxing match in my life! But that was something you decided to pursue with gusto, and Daddy and I are proud of the effort you applied to this sport. Getting to and from boxing alone on the bus was another big step for you and an achievement that we applauded. You are a box of surprises, filled with thoughts and ideas, classic literature and big words, passions and insecurities, convictions and dreams.
I pray that you will allow Jesus to become your greatest joy and desire in life and to lead you to the wonderful good works He has uniquely designed just for you to fulfill. Happy 14th Birthday, Alec Stephen!
All my love,
Mom
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