Birthday party, China-style

We had a new first last night...attending a Chinese birthday party.  One of Katie's classmates had a birthday party last night and was kind enough to include our family!  I must be completely honest, though...it was only half-Chinese.  The boy's father is an American who doesn't speak any Chinese (his kids are fluent in both languages), so we were wondering if, in part, we were invited just to keep the dad company.  :0)  All the same, we were invited, and we went...and had a great time.  It was really great to get to know this family better, and we got the chance to meet more of Katie's classmates' families too. 

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Katie with some little girls from her class.  She told me that the one in pruple is her best friend from school and the one right next to her is her second best friend.  She had no idea what the girl on the right was named.  I'm amazed she can remember their names at all!



What Chinese birthday party would be complete without fireworks?

Chinese people typically don't make a big deal out of birthdays (a tragedy, I know!). For example, when our tutor accidentally told us when his birthday was, we decided to have a party for him ('cause who doesn't like a birthday party?).  He was somewhat embarrassed that he had told us when he realized we wanted to make a big deal about it.  We explained to him that, as Americans and as Christians, we love birthdays and that he shouldn't feel bad because it was giving us great joy to celebrate him.  He is a brother already, but we really felt like this was a great opportunity to help him understand God's great love for and delight in him.  The day before his birthday, he said, "Mary, this is the first time I've ever been been aware of and looked forward to my birthday."  Can you imagine?  Oh, how the One who knits us in our mother's wombs and writes all our days in His book before one of them comes to pass, the One who sings love over us, the One who brought out the best wine to keep the party going, the One who sent a host of angels to celebrate the birth of His Son, surely He is One who loves a good birthday party. 

The birthday boy with some of his biggest fans