Strong Confidence

Today was kind of insane... but it was a total blast at the same time. My parent's 30th anniversary is on the 12, but since we will be in Colorado, we wanted to do something now--a surprise! The idea was to have a bunch of friends and family come over and do a potluck kind of surprise party. After thinking a while about ways to get dad and mom out of the house, I decided to make it official and RSVP them for lunch at Claim Jumpers (mom's favorite) for 1 pm... the party was scheduled for 2 pm. I included some cash in there to make sure that they went. I was surprised by how easy it was to get them to go. Not only did they go like I expected... they both dressed up! I couldn't believe it. When they got back, they didn't notice the random cars on the street. :) We had probably 50 people or so if you count everyone. Probably the two that were the most surprising... my sister and her family came down from Northern CA, and one of mom's friends from 28 years ago came. The hadn't seen each other since mom stopped teaching with her. Seeing her reaction when she saw that friend was well worth all the effort that we put into it. Everyone did a fantastic job on the food. Our pastor's wife made a wedding (anniversary) cake that was incredible! I am told that the potatoes were amazing. Grandma Pat always has the best mac & cheese... today was no different (I don't usually like mac & cheese, but hers is awesome). :D Aunt Caren made a great fruit salad in a pretty watermelon bowl that she carved. Some friends from church brought a salad... another one took all the chicken off the bones to make it easy. Everyone went above and beyond for my parents. I can't ever thank them enough. The party wouldn't have been the same without any of them. I uploaded a video here of their first reaction. :)

I read 1 Samuel 23 this evening. Jonathan must have been a man of faith. During the time when his father (Saul) was chasing David, Jonathan went and found David and said... (verse 17)

Thus he said to him, "Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also."

I love the confidence with which Jonathan speaks. He even went as far to say that Saul (his father) knows that David will be king and can't do anything about it even though he is trying. What an awesome example of fearing the Lord rather than men! May God fill us with a strong confidence in Him!