David turns Twelve!
One morning we decorated the house for my birthday. Michael designed a great cake for me with the picture of a lion head on it. 
One of the best things about my birthday was that I got my new 4/4 violin. We ordered four violins to try out. Esther and I learned a lot about listening and discerning which one was the best. I love the one we picked from Potter’s Violin Shop! Another fun event was a big treasure hunt Jonathan made. Since we did it at night we had to find some of the clues with flashlights. It had rained earlier so some of the clues were soaked and others took 15 minutes to figure out! Instead of the darkness and the rain preventing the treasure hunt, it ended up making it even more of a challenge. In the same way God uses the spiritual darkness and rainy circumstances of our lives for good when we accept and deal with them according to His design. I certainly had a 
great birthday.
How exciting! I really can’t wait to hear you perform on your new full-size violin. It sounds so much better!
Jonathan did an excellent job on that treasure hunt too, by the way. Some of the clues were very challenging to decipher. I still remember running down the hill with our flashlights and all 3 of us almost slipping in the mud. 🙂
Happy Birthday David!!!
I’m so glad you had a great birthday! It looks like so much fun. I’m sorry I missed it. I did get to hear your new violin, though, and I thought it sounded really nice. Music is a beautiful way to praise the Lord and you are an excellent musician! I’ll look forward to hearing you again soon!
Happy Birthday David! Sounds like you had a super duper day! And a new voilin – wow! Now I’ll really be looking forward to another Staddon concert.
I appreciate the analogy – how true! May the Lord continue to grant you eyes to see things from His perspective. Nothing He allows is outside His providential will that was preordained for you before the world began!
Glad you had a great birthday David. That was an outstanding cake and an outstanding treasure hunt! I’m sure you won’t forget them for a while. God will definitely even use the “darkness” and “rain” if you “accept and deal with them according to his design”.
PS Yesterday was one of the last days of school for the public school that I go to every Tuesday. In my fourth grade class it was someone’s birthday so we celebrated all the rest of the birthdays that hadn’t been celebrated yet by singing “Happy Birthday” and giving out pencils or pens. It wasn’t much but they, like us, were grateful to those who take the effort to make birthday times memorable. “Freely ye have received! Freely give!”
There’s a fun story behind that cake, how the Lord changed my schedule and gave us good ideas, and I’m glad it turned out so well.
It was fun to decide which violin sounded the best while the prices and sources were kept secret, and encouraging that the experts we consulted came to the same conclusions independently. The most amazing part was that the best-sounding violin turned out to be the least expensive! Praise the Lord that it worked out so well!