Birthday Bash! and Sarah's Covenant.

Yesterday, we invited the family to come to Heather's house for a celebration of Rick's 54th and Sarah's 19th birthdays. We convinced my eldest daughter, Adeena, that we were planning to celebrate her 30th birthday on Labour Day weekend. Little did she know that we were hatching a devious plot...

When Adeena's husband Jeff turned 30, Adeena planned an "Elvis" party for him. Jeff *hates* Elvis - doesn't like his songs, never watched his movies - just wasn't interested. So, we surprised him with a party which included Elvis posters, Elvis clock, Elvis bulletin board, Elvis calendar, etc. Elvis was singing in the background the entire evening.

Jeff thought it was great fun, but he was wanting to return the favour for Adeena's 30th party. Adeena has always hated spiders, so we planned a spider party.

I went to the dollar store and was able to get all kinds of spiders! We hung 36 mini-webs with black spiders all around Heather's shop. We hung a great web over the door, so guests would have to go through the webbing to get in. We had a HUGE spider sitting in that web, at least 7 inches in diameter. There was a web with a tarantula on the tree and one on the door, and the "piece de resistance" was the 8 foot spider hanging from the ceiling!!

Aunt Sandra made two salads, and she fashioned a red spider from a red pepper and a black spider from a black plum to sit atop the salads!

Adeena walked in, and she realized what was going on immediately. It was fun to tease her about being thirty, and she really didn't mind all of the spiders, because she knew they weren't alive. Now, if I had had real spiders all over the place, I doubt she would have stayed!

Heather and Steve have a great yard, perfect for children to run and play safely. They have a sandbox and a swing and slides, and a cement pad for riding toys. The adults were able to relax and visit while the kids played with minimum supervision in the fenced in yard.

'Twas a lovely day.

The most emotional part of the day, for me, was watching my husband give Sarah her Purity Promise Ring. I bought her a heart shaped ring made of white gold, with a small diamond in the corner of the heart. Rick told her that if she accepted the ring, she was entering into a covenant with her father, to remain pure until her wedding day.

We made a certificate:

This is to confirm that on this date, August 21, 2005,
Sarah Kathleen Billson
entered into covenant in the presence of family and friends,
to follow the commandments of God
to remain pure in body, mind, and spirit.

A ring was presented as a token of this promise, to be worn until marriage.

The ring, chosen by her parents, has special symbolism.
The heart represents Sarah's heart,
which she is giving to her father for safekeeping.
The diamond represents Sarah's first kiss,
which she is covenanting to keep until her wedding day.

It was signed by Sarah and her father, witnessed by her mother.

Sarah loves her ring! She gladly gave her assent to the covenant, because her heart's desire is to remain pure, so she can be presented a spotless bride to her husband, if the Lord chooses to give her one.

What a blessed day it was!

This is the day that the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it!