As our last full day in France, today was about getting ready to say goodbye, as you'll see in tonight's festivities. It also happens to be my birthday, which is SUPER exciting for me, because VISION has always left a day or two before my birthday in the past - this is my first birthday without jet lag in four years! :D Since today was meant to be pretty chill for the most part, breakfast was scheduled at 10 - yay for sleeping in! Once we got everyone settled at the table, the whole team broke out into a lovely chorus of "Happy Birthday", while Debbie brought in a doughnut bedecked with a glowing candle and set it in front of me. I couldn't imagine a better way to start my 23rd year than by blowing out a little flame surrounded by the smiling faces of the twelve people I have grown so close to these past three weeks! The birthday love continued throughout the day, as Donny made sure that I was sung to several more
times throughout the day, the girls gave me a lovely gift, and the team even had the restaurant tonight play the French version of Happy Birthday over their speaker system! I feel so incredibly loved by this team, and by God through them, that I can't even words because there's so much happy. :) I am getting ahead of myself though, haha!
After breakfast, around 11, the Kap family came to say goodbye to us. We had one last game of Asparagus with the kids in the yard, Natalie and Laura both gave me lovely handmade birthday cards, and
we shared a long goodbye with the whole family that included Philip firmly impressing upon each of us that if we were EVER back in France again, they would LOVE to give us a place to stay! Every year I am amazed by the fact that, even though we go to other countries to serve God and bless the missionaries working for Him there, it is always they who end up blessing us even more. Once the Kaps left, Kevin took us to a Roman forum to peruse the museum and wander the grounds for a bit, then allowed us to roam free in a Carrefour (French version of Walmart) to pick up any last-minute souvenirs (especially food!). We then had a couple of hours at home to get schnazzied up for our traditional last-day dinner.
Our annual shindig took place in an Italian restaurant in Belgium - INCREDIBLE food, and of course, WONDERFUL company - plus Philip and Heidi, who had made our reservations, asked to tag along with Kevin and Debbie! Hurrah! After we enjoyed our meal, we moved on to three very important VISION traditions: secret prayer partner revealing, the quote book, and the girls’/boys’ song.
Secret Prayer Partner (SPP) Revealing - At the beginning of the trip, everyone selects at random a slip of paper with another teammate's name on it. The person you draw will be kept secret throughout the trip, and it is your responsibility to pray for them, write them little notes of encouragement and/or give them little gifts, and buy them an end-of-trip parting gift. This year I had Jake, our student leader (which is ironic, since he had me last year), and I was thrilled to discover that he had no idea it was me the whole trip! As for my SPP, I had a suspicion that it might be Donny, and I was glad when it turned out that I was right! It was such a blessing to receive notes of encouragement from the amazing guy who's been my teammate for the past three years and my friend for four years. He has been such a wonderful example and inspiration to me, and it took a great deal of willpower not to cry when he called me his “little sister” in the note that accompanied his parting gift to me. What I love most about the SPP system is that every single person on the team is covered individually by the prayers of at least one of their teammates. Even though some teams can end up a little “cliquey” by the end, this ensures that everyone has at least one other person cheering for them and lifting them up to God for the duration of the trip.
Quote book – This is one of those “just for fun” activities that has nothing to do with ministry. I keep a note on my iPod entitled “Quote Book”, and whenever anyone says something particularly funny (whether intentionally or accidentally), my teammates alert me to the quote and I write it down. At our
farewell dinner, we pass it around in a circle and each member reads the next quote on the list; things like “The paint in France smells like candy!” or “Guys, we are super talented.” Most of them are inside jokes, but they make us laugh. :)
Girls’/Boys’ Song – Every year each gender gets together and writes a song about the team members of the opposite gender, focusing on each person individually and usually mentioning their distinguishing features or trademarks along with what makes them special. Lots of fun!
After we got home from the special dinner, we headed into our rooms to finish last-minute packing, much shuffling of souvenirs and dirty laundry, and the last night of hanging out with our respective roommates. It has been such a blessing to room with Jenna and Danny for the whole trip, and I will miss them both dearly! Sleep came around 1:30am… and tomorrow we make the long journey home.
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