Our birthday celebrations aren’t about lots of gifts. Instead, we focus more on making a person feel special that day and doing some of their favorite things. We also offer a chance for the birthday child to make a special request for a meal.

Sunday was Luke’s seventh birthday, and his two requests were for his friend from church, Nate, to come over for a visit, and to go to Cracker Barrel for a meal.

I was a little worried about the visit part. Luke is a quiet boy and I was afraid he’d not know what to do with a friend. And because Luke is so quiet, I worried that perhaps Nate would find the other kids here to be better companions.

Despite my worries, we invited Nate over, and I told the rest of the kids to let Luke & Nate be kings for the day.

Well, the day went beautifully! Luke & Nate were best buddies and they did lots of fun things. They watched a movie for a little while, played video games, bounced on the trampoline, went rollerblading, wrestled, and even spent time listening to Luke’s Uncle Todd read aloud from a Star Trek book. Before we knew it supper time had come and it was time to head to Cracker Barrel. Luke & Nate go to order whatever they wanted, while the rest of the children were restricted to our usual $1.99 biscuits & gravy order. The meal went so nicely, and Luke was pleasantly surprised by the video game he found under his plate (hidden there by his daddy). The staff at Cracker Barrel brought out some ice cream with strawberries and we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Luke.

As I thought back on the day, I kept thinking of how smoothly everything went. Luke was a gracious, generous host, and Nate was a kind, thoughtful, quiet guest. The other children didn’t try to steal Luke’s friend, and Nate didn’t seem to lose interest in the things Luke invited him to do.

I just wanted to raise my hands and spin in circles and sing to the heavens at our perfect day. Instead, I smiled and took lots of photos. I also took a moment right before Nate headed home to talk to him and tell him how much I appreciated him coming over and making Luke’s day so special.

The next time I’m tempted to complain about how things never turn out like I want them to, I hope I remember back to yesterday when everything turned out perfectly.

Happy Birthday, Luke!