One Unique Birthday Party

Luke turned 6 on December 4th.  We invited  his 6 closest friends from his new school, and the craziest thing happened.  They all came!  It was especially crazy since they all got their invites two days before, but the craziness didn't stop there.  Five of the moms, one great Aunt, and a seven year old brother all decided to stay as well.  This made Anita a little nervous, but I thought it was fabulous!  The neighborhood we live in never ceases to amaze me and this night was no exception.

In our living room was a mom (Sherri) and her son (Ben) from Japan, and a mom (Sue) and her son (Elijah) from Korea.  We also had a mom (Aishe) and her son (Barkey) from Turkey, and a great aunt (Manita), seven year old brother (Razseen), mom (Nur) and her twin daughters (Farshene & Noshein) from Bangladesh.  Finally, there was a Northern European (Annika) and all of the Northern European Ostercamps!  

The moms from Japan and Korea had been born in the USA, but the rest are first generation immigrants.  It was a beautiful representation of the Kingdom of God.  Japan, Korea, Turkey, Bangladesh all right here together under our roof.  I never would have imagined 12 months ago that Anita and I would be hosting this sort of birthday party. :)  

It was great to get to know all these wonderful people from all over the world.  These Moms did not know each other so I felt like a community organizer of sorts. :)  What an amazing country we live in!  We really are a country of immigrants - a conglomeration of so many cultures.  Luke had a great global birthday party, and we look forward to getting to know our neighbors better in the future.

A man at Church told me that our zip code 60625 is know as the most diverse in the world.  I feel that we are blessed to live in this neighborhood for these three years.  What an experience for us and our kids.  Please pray for us as we seek to know and love those who live around us.