Turning 26 with lions

I have truly had a remarkably blessed life. I have an amazing family and fabulous friends and therefore I've always been made to feel quite special on my birthdays. I've enjoyed many pool parties, slumber parties, toilet papering outings, and scavenger hunts. Some reoccurring items at a typical party included a pinata, banana splits AND cake, cheesy games my dad invented like "who can balance the Squeeze-It bottle on their head the longest," balloons, laughter and fun. When we first moved to Brea, I was just turning 5 and hadn't met anyone yet so my parents invited thee ENTIRE neighborhood. In 3rd grade, my friend Megan and I who is a week younger than I, planned a joint party- we skipped school, puffy painted matching teal shirts, dawned our ultra-cool fanny packs and ran around Disneyland with our moms and 2 other friends for the day. Another memorable birthday was shortly after college when my friends from Westmont called up my friends from high school and we ate an incredible meal in the kitchen of a restaurant, singing "God Bless America" at the top of our lungs. Very surreal.

This year was the first year I was not surrounded by my family on my birthday, well my blood family- I was with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The OC Mozambique team went to Johannesburg, South Africa for a long weekend in order to join the OC South Africa team in saying farewell to the Carlson family who have been the Africa Area directors for a super long time and are moving to Colorado. The Carlsons are an amazing and hilarious family who I got to know a bit in December during our retreat and I also was super excited because I got to stay with the Witherow family. I had met them at the retreat and then when I came home for Christmas, they picked me up in the sketchy bus station and let me stay with them and then took me to the airport. I bonded with their three very fun boys while bouncing on the trampoline and feel incredibly welcome and at ease in their home. I was thrilled to spend my birthday evening with them. The boys had even baked me a cake and helped me with the candles:)







I had a blast with the boys and Heather is such an encourager- I was so glad I got to spend more time with this amazing family before leaving Africa.Yes, it is May I am wearing a scarf. The seasons are opposite from the States so it is almost winter and Joburg gets FREEZING!! I can't remember a time I've been colder.

One thing I really wanted to do while in Joberg was visit the lion park. We drove through the park in a caged truck and it was absolutely amazing to see lions so close. I must admit that it wasn't the same as seeing animals in Kruger because here these are fed and not really in the "wild" so it had a bit of a zoo feeling. The lions are definitely still "wild"though- the guide pointed out the lion which a few years ago killed 2 tourists who tried to pet it. Also, in Kruger one could rarely, if ever, get so close to the lions and watch a bunch of cubs nursing so there is no way I could ever get lion pictures in Kruger like I did here. I took a ton of pictures- here are my favorites:

The first ones we saw are "White lions" and actually can't survive in the wild because of their light color. The male was recently used in a movie.




These lions were in the next area. The males have to be separated.











And I thought my cat had attitude...





Sometimes I have staring contests with random kids when their parents aren't watching. (didn't mean for that to sound so creepy) I also do this with animals sometimes. I don't really know why but I feel the need to create competition all the time. I always win these competitions. However, I chalked up my first loss with the gal on the left. She was a fierce competitor and was staring so intently and I didn't want our truck to get attack so I averted my eyes.



















Sure I prefer to be with my family on my birthday but hanging out with lions was cool too:)
Learned something new and random about lions: they like to spoon. Weird.Probably my favorite part of the journey through the park was when we went off-roading to closely observe this odd family. Although the males usually are all separated, these two are brothers and formed a "coalition" according to the guide. I admit that I'm a bit saddened that polygamy happens in the wild. The two females seem to get along great though.













We showed up just in time for family bath time.












Loved this spunky lil fella. Also, who knew that male lions grew arm pit hair? Odd.













In Kruger, it is considered a huge treat to see a lion sitting in the far distance. I've craned my neck out of cars, strained my eyes through the binoculars and have felt very lucky to even catch a glimpse of a lion sitting in the shade. So being able to park our car right next to these beautiful animals and watch them do more than sit, was a wonderful birthday present. The next picture is my favorite:Next, we were able to pet the lion cubs! Heather warned me not to touch their heads and to pet them hard because they claw you if you touch their head and might mistake your hand for a fly if you don't pet hard. Armed with my "lion-petting tips" I approached the little guy on the left and when he batted at my hand at first I confess that I jumped back and felt like a chicken. These kitties aren't exactly declawed so I feel justified in my wussy behavior.









Lastly, we dropped by to feed the giraffes. Sounds neat huh? By far thee grossest thing I have ever done. I was expecting him to eat the food out of my hand like a horse does. As I was sticking my hand out to offer the snack, a vague memory flashed in my mind of reading that giraffes have incredibly long tongues... I don't get grossed out easily- in fact I usually enjoy looking at some things that others may label as "nasty." But when the giraffe's incredibly long, rough and black tongue wrapped around my entire hand, I almost gagged. I was hoping to get cute pictures of me feeding a giraffe...It did not happen. The others had a great time laughing at me thoroughly disgusted.
This wasn't intended to be one of my "ugly faces" pictures. This is a genuine look of horror and disgust.Can you see the long string of drool stretching from his mouth to my hand? Not cool Geoffry. Not cool.

Overall, it was a wonderful birthday. When I returned to my home in Maputo, I opened the door to my room and was very confused to find the following:


My friends Lisa and Judith had broke into our house (ok, used a spare key) while we were gone to decorate my room with banners, balloons, paper chains and streamers. (aka toilet paper) I've left most of it up because it is so festive and fun. My friend Lisa reminds me a lot of my friend Lesley from home. They both are super smart, have similar mannerisms, are incredibly considerate and know how to make their friends feel special, especially on their birthday. With no way to call me, many of my friends who are very talented vocal artists, were unable to leave their usual beautiful messages. (sarcasm noted?) However, Lesley found a way around this obstacle. I highly recommend you check out her awesome performance:

Lesley's performance

I definitely felt very special and very loved on my birthday, despite being thousands of miles away from my family and "home friends." Having such wonderful friends is not only a blessing, it is a necessity to make strides in my walk with Jesus. I've been learning a lot about accountability this month. It seems to be a common theme lately and I feel like perhaps the Lord is trying to tell me something. The first mention of the importance of accountability was brought up at Bible study. We were finishing Ezra and discussing the importance of repentance and why on earth Ezra listed the names of all the men who had sinned by marrying foreign wives. Our conclusion was that it was a record for the sake of accountability. This led to a great discussion about how to hold our friends accountable and how after we repent of something to the LORD, we should also repent to a friend who can hold us accountable. We compiled a list of questions we could continually ask our friends to make sure we were on the right path. Here are a few of them:

1. Are you justifying any sins? / What justifications are you using?
2. Is there anything or anyone drawing you away from God?
3. What did God do in your life last week?
4. What did you spend most of your time thinking about today?
5. What have you been learning through the scriptures?
6. Is there anything going on in your life right now that you wouldn't want anyone to know about? / Is there anything you are trying to hide?
7. Is there anything you are placing in front of God?
8. Are you doing anything unwise?
9. Are you putting off repenting of anything?
10. Have you just lied?

Then I read a passage from Teresa of Avila about pursuing a virtuous life which reads, "...that is why it is very important for us to associate with others who are walking in the right way. Those who have drawn close to God have the ability to bring us closer to him, for in a sense they take us with them."

Next, I came across Proverbs 13:20 "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."

Finally, I listened to a sermon by Mike Erre about how we should live in light of our new identity in Christ. He talked about the disputable "grey areas" in life when we sincerely don't know if something is outside of God's will. (ie- movies to watch, what music we listen to, drinking, etc) He provided a grid to use when deciphering how to act in the "grey areas" which is to ask oneself the following questions:

1- Does is bring dishonor to God's name?
2- Does it compromise my witness or give the appearance of evil?
3- Will I be mastered by this? Is it enslaving?
4- Does it hinder my relationship with Jesus?
5- Does it cause another to stumble?
6- Is it true, noble, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy?

After running the questionable issue through that grid, it is essential that we are also living in community and can ask for our friends' opinions. It is incredibly easy to justify and rationalize everything in our heads which is why we must have accountability if we truly want to live a life pleasing to God.

When I think of birthdays, I will always think of my family and friends. God has showered me with incredible people who make me not only feel special, but hold me accountable and point me on towards the right way.