Dear Daniel

Dear Daniel,

Today is my 27th birthday. Doesn't that sound old? I don't feel like a real adult yet, but I'll be 30 in 3 years. When I was your age, I thought that all grown-ups were in the same category. I assumed that all of them felt capable, confident, and that they never felt intimidated by other grown-ups. But now I'm 27, which sounds old enough to be in the grown-up category, and you want to know a secret? I still lack confidence. I still feel shy and intimidated around certain people. And I still look up to people who are older than me. I guess that doesn't mean that I'm not grown-up yet, it just means that there aren't two simple categories of people like I thought when I was a kid.

I'm still sick. If I'm not better by tomorrow evening, I will have been sick for a full week. The last two mornings I've been awakened early by diarrhea. We finally called the doctor yesterday. He put me on a very strict diet (no protein, no fat, no fresh fruits, no vegetables -- just hot cereal, rice, dry toast, and baked apples) and prescribed an antibiotic. I'm also drinking a Ukrainian electrolyte solution. (Things like sweating a lot or diarrhea destroy your body's electrolyte balance.) In America, we have Gatorade and other sports drinks to do this job. Here in Ukraine, we have Regidron, a powder that you put in water. It tastes awful, so I added a packet of Kool-Aid and sugar to it. It still doesn't taste good, but at least it's drinkable! So as I type, I'm also sipping my Regidron.

Usually Georgie gets up early on my birthday and makes me breakfast in bed. So last night he asked me what I wanted for breakfast in the morning. I laughed. Oatmeal? Rice? Dry toast with no butter or jam? How exciting! In the end I decided on baked apples, but since my illness woke me up before him, I'll probably make them myself. Another birthday tradition is going out to a nice restaurant for dinner; of course, that's not happening this year!

So it sounds like a great birthday, doesn't it? But you know what? God knew what a bummer of a day it would be for me, so He sent me a special gift. When I opened the living room curtains shortly after I got up, I couldn't believe my eyes! You know what I saw? Snow! And not just falling through the air, but starting to cover everything in white! It must have been snowing most of the night to do that. It hasn't snowed since the last time I wrote you because it's been too warm. Two days ago, the temperature actually got up to 46 degrees Fahrenheit. But today, on my birthday, when I'm sick and unable to do the things I usually would, when I'm far away from many of my beloved family and friends -- God sends me snow to remind me that He's always with me, and He remembers that it's my birthday.

The snow usually doesn't stick this early. We'll get some snowfall here and there, sometimes starting in October and through November and December. But we often don't get enough snow to make the world turn white until just after the New Year. So the weather today really is special. It's out of the ordinary. It's God's special message to me.

He did this for me once before. Remember when I lived in France? Well, that year also I was sick on my birthday. Besides that, it fell on a work day, so I was sick and teaching. Plus, no one knew it was my birthday, so no one even said "Happy Birthday" to me all day long. I had planned to attend a classical music concert in the evening, but after my last class, I felt too sick to go. I went home, prepared a sick person's meal, and got into bed early. The only thing I had wanted from the day was snow. But though I had prayed for it, it hadn't snowed. As I settled myself in bed for the night, I glanced out the window, and in the slanting rays of the setting sun, I saw the snow beginning to fall. Suddenly I could sense God's presence with me in that lonely room; He put His arms around me and said, "Happy birthday, dearest Sharon. I love you so much." I started to cry because I was so touched. And that's how I feel about this snow today.

Don't ever forget how much God loves you, Daniel. You know that He sent Jesus to die in your place. And even though that's enough to prove His love to you for all time, it doesn't end there. He wants to show you His love every day in a thousand small ways. Look for them and praise Him!

Love, Sharon

P.S. Of course, since I'm sick, we had to cancel the birthday party to which we were planning to invite all our Ukrainian friends. We're going to try again in December for George's birthday (12-05-75).