We celebrated Blake's 21st birthday this weekend on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri. Our family and a few of our friends made the trip to share in the celebration. We camped and cooked and loaded up on the boats to spend the day on the water.
Even though it was only in the 80's, the water was a very comfortable temperature and we enjoyed ourselves as we looked forward to our lake adventure.
We looked awesome in our hats and sunshades
And we enjoyed watching the tube and wakeboard activity.
Unfortunately that didn't last long.....
and the party started to get crashed...
The first boat shut down about an hour and a half into our adventure and we towed them into the dock to check out the problem.
It didn't take long to fix that mishap...and everyone was smiling
and ready to head back out on the water.
but as fate would have it that just wasn't going to happen.
The pontoon we had rented wouldn't start again and the owner couldn't figure out what the problem was despite the fact that he had help from the greatest minds around.
So he refunded our money and we headed back to the pool and entertained ourselves with $2.00 water guns and a huge purple ball.
Some of us passed on the water volleyball and went for the hot tub.
Still a good choice.
We wrapped up the evening in Springfield at Bass Pro where Blake made a small dent in his birthday money. (His birthday tradition for years)
And then we came back to the campground and cooked steaks at 10:00 p.m. and sang happy birthday and ate cake and went to bed with full tummies
........................and thankful hearts.
Twenty one years ago we held our son as he struggled to breathe hooked up to tubes, oxygen and had needles in his head, and it was hard to imagine that we would be here celebrating his life, his health and his future.
..........................21 birthdays later.
We prayed over him then.
We prayed over him this night.
I held him tight as he embraced me and whispered reminders in my ear that he has not forgotten how far the Lord has brought him.
And I cried. And I thanked God for the gift of him.
I fell asleep looking at the stars and thinking how blessed his dad and I are that he was sleeping peacefully beside us in the camper surrounded by the people who love him.
And I thought how it would take more than a couple of boats not working to ruin these moments.
Happy 21st Birthday to you son...
Most importantly....8029