Exceptionally Sweet

My birthday was a day to remember. It was one of those sweet days when you crawl into bed and are simply overwhelmed by the goodness of God in your life.

The day began with Youth Bible Study at church. The students had prepared a surprise party for me when we ascended the stairs to our classroom. It was replete with balloons, gifts, and special presentations. One of my sweet students named Jessica had prepared a few songs on her violin for the occasion. She began with the birthday song. She closed with “Nearer, my God, to Thee.” It nearly brought me to tears.

They also gave me some very entertaining, home-made cards. One of the cards read, “Dear Paul, you have a bald head, but I like you.” Another read, “Remember when I asked how you are? Your face looked gray that day.”

The spread of gifts was incredible. It included the very thoughtful and practical. As you will see in the picture below, I was blessed with shirts, socks, hand fans, shaving cream, a wallet, a hand towel, a handkerchief, cologne, and a massager. Elder Jung had even put a $2 bill in the wallet.


One of my class clowns also gave me a little brown box, spring-loaded with a decorated ping pong ball that shot out at me. His father would later invite me to play ping pong with their family next week!


Of course, I was also entertained when Pastor Lee announced my birthday in church. He said, “Today is Pastor Paul’s birthday. I think he is really Korean because he even loves to eat spicy octopus. I hope he also marries a Korean girl and lives here forever.” Elder Jung said at lunch, “It is now our church mission to find you a girlfriend!”

Another part of the “exceptionally sweet” day was the amount of food we ate. In Korean culture, most meetings center on food. The people here are always looking for a reason to eat together! (Of course, I think that is a part of church culture anywhere!) The students and I enjoyed orange juice and choco-pies for breakfast, covered in cool whip and chocolate pearls. Fellowship lunch was specially prepared for me, after they learned that I loved a dish here called Deonkas. It is like a fried pork chop with barbeque sauce. The meal ended with more chocolate cake.

My amazing roommate Young Gwang, his beautiful girlfriend Hyun Joo, and my dear friend DL took me for a birthday dinner at VIP’s Steak and Salad Bar. They remembered how much I loved it the first time. We ate the lion’s share of ribs, fried chicken, soft tacos, and shrimp. Also, I am still blown away by the creative and ultra fresh salad combos, including “tapioca ginseng nut” and “chilled mango cranberry.” We topped off our meal with more dessert, including cheese cake and Pepsi floats.

The day was…simply perfect. Another cool thing, I celebrated my 30th birthday in Korea, due to the calendar here (I am still 29 by US age). So, if I return to the US, I will be able to celebrate the same birthday again next year (age 30)! This reminds me of a friend of mine who has been celebrating her 29th birthday for years. Now, she simply honors anniversaries of that birthday.

Also exceptionally sweet—when June 20th ended here in Korea, the party kept going in the US. I am 14 hours ahead here. So, I got to hear birthday wishes from friends and family around the world for two days straight.

Space doesn’t allow me to detail all the wonderful blessings that also came from my support network outside Korea—including the thoughtful emails, Skype voicemails, Facebook posts, blog comments, care packages, and even a YouTube video!

Thanks to everyone for loving and blessing this bald-headed, sometimes gray-faced, and always undeserving man! You make my life exceptionally sweet.