Happy Birthday Quinn!

We celebrated Quinn’s birthday today, one month earlier than his actual October 10th birth-day. Gaby, his best friend here, will leave for his move to Sudan on October 5th and a birthday without him was unthinkable. So Quinn celebrated 6, though he’s not quite six. He’s the kind of kid that just rolls with it.

The book Captivating says the question that all little boys ask is “do I have what it takes?”. We certainly see that in Quinn who is constantly challenging himself and looking for new adventures. At his request we designed a Knight party to celebrate the quest for manhood and the legend of King Aurthur and Excaliber which he has been fascinated by recently. We made Coat of Arms Shields and watched Sword in the Stone for the first time. Then we went on the Quest that David had created which include a wizard messenger appearing in a dark robe to hand Quinn a scroll and map. Quinn’s face as he saw David appearing like this was absolutely priceless.

The group of team kids and a few of Quinn’s best local friends journeyed around the yard and campus climbing trees, ascending a ladder to the top of a water tank, slaying a cardboard dragon and finally killing the bad Knight to gain Excaliber.

Of course, fascinatingly, Quinn is truly struggling to be enough. We found him a decent bike in Kampala and bought it for his birthday, replacing the one he has been riding which barely rolls. The bike is big, though, and Quinn couldn’t quite talk himself into taking the risk of practicing on it, leading me to ponder; how do we help boys to see that they’re enough not because they’re enough but because He in them makes them enough? Because if we try to answer those questions in our own abilities, Satan will defeat us every time. He knows that we are not enough; only God in us can have what it takes.

Ashley helped me create two really fun cakes, including a huge stone brownie with a butcher knife stuck in for the famed Sword in the Stone and a beautiful stone castle.

Can’t believe my baby is six.