His Power is Made Perfect in My Weakness: Val's 21st Birthday

Slowly but surely I will be caught up on posts! The good news is each weekend that comes and goes is full of fun times to write about. Better to be behind on posts because of too much to write about than to not have anything to write about at all!

Val’s 21st birthday was February 5^th. I decided that I would go visit her at Liberty and have a party with her closest friends. Her birthday was on a Friday, but I planned to have the party on Thursday night. Val shares a birthday with another friend at Liberty and therefore shares her special day each year. I really wanted her to have her own night with just her closest friends, so Thursday night seemed ideal. When I made up these plans I was still only working at Huntington and had Fridays off. Well once I got the Salem job, Fridays were a work day again. Thankfully my boss gave me the day off. This also gave me a great excuse to tell Val I would see her Friday after I got off work. The get together on Thursday night evolved into a surprise party, making it all the more fun!

Kelsey, Val’s roommate, was magnificent in being a spy for me during the week leading up to the party. She was able to find out what Val’s favorite cake was and also invite all of her friends. The best part of it all was there was a big snowstorm oming in on Friday. Of course Val thinking I was coming Friday evening was left to believe I would not be able to make it due to the road conditions! Kelsey kept texting me about how disappointed Val was that I would not be able to make it. She had no clue! To top it off, my sister Rachel had invited Val to come over her place on Thursday night to catch up, thus setting the stage for the surprise.

Of course things never go completely smoothly. I left work around 6 on Thursday and got to Liberty in plenty of time (the party was to start at 8:30). Problem was I needed to go by Wal-Mart and grab some food and some pictures for Val’s present. Well with the big snowstorm coming, the place was packed! I was starting to stress but thankfully made it over to Rachel’s just in time. All of us went upstairs into the guest room and waited until Val arrived. Rachel brilliantly informed her that she had left a shirt upstairs the last time she was there. Some of her friends gave me the idea to hide in a separate room and come out after the initial surprise. It worked like a charm and Val couldn’t believe it!

We had a great time hanging out and playing some games. Pit was a huge hit among Val's friends. Eventually we brought out the cake and sang happy birthday. My first attempt at cake decorating was a mild success as I baked a double layer yellow cake and decorated it Liberty style! What a fun night filled with God's blessings!

The rest of the weekend was fantastic. The best part of it was that Friday felt like Saturday and Saturday felt like Sunday after which I still had Sunday to head back to Blacksburg and relax! We played some train game, watched a Liberty basketball game, and played some indoor soccer. The indoor soccer fields at Liberty are awesome! I would be in there every day if we had a facility like that at Tech. I eventually got around to giving Val her birthday present: a scrap book titled Life According to Matt and Val, a play off of the Adventure Book in the movie Up. Each page features a different activity that I hope we get to do together including attending a baseball game, hiking the Cascades, seeing Wicked on Broadway, and eating at The Homeplace. Her main gift was located on the page entitled Rock out at a Porcupine Tree Concert. On the page was an envelope containing two tickets to a PT concert in April. I can't wait! You know you are blessed when your girlfriend is a Porcupine Tree fanatic!

God is so good and has surrounded me with incredible people. Val you are so special to me and I am glad to call you my best friend! I can't wait to set out on these adventures together!

More to come soon!