Cole's Birthday Surprise

Hello friends!

I hope this finds you well. Being someone this is sent to, you are one of the many individuals or families who have cared for Nicole and I in some way and whom we care for in some way.

It is Nicole's birthday this Friday, and as most of you know, we recently purchased a house. That being the case, we decided, as you can imagine, to set our expectations very low for upcoming celebrations and gifts as we adjust financially to this new way of life.

Well, her expectations being set perhaps the lowest they ever have been for a birthday, I thought, why not aim pretty high for how I can surprise her.

So, I am hoping to raise money to be able to purchase two items on our wish list. One is very practical, that is a riding lawn mower (don't think Nicole wouldn't be ecstatic to have this gifted to her, both because she is a practical person and is oddly excited to drive it around and mow our yard, but also because it would free up mental and financial space for other things). And two, a beautiful dream kitchen island that Nicole came across and fell in love with, despite it being out of our budget and unnecessarily gorgeous for a kitchen island. And anything above and beyond what's listed will be put to good use for other house items or projects!

So, there is some motivation for those who believe in very practical things, and for those who believe gifts should be extravagant and unnecessary. My hope is that there are some of each of you and that we can, together, gift Nicole with both of these items, which will become quite vital aspects of our life in this new place.

You can stop reading here. I've given all the necessary information, but I will go on to say something I think is probably needless if you are even a little bit familiar with Cole. She is unlike anyone else in this world. She is extraordinary in the most extraordinary ways. She is a prophet, a seer. More clearly than I can see my hand in front of my face, she sees the truth. She glances and knows, something is not the way it is supposed to be. We think it a burden to be confronted by our sin, but the burden is God's, who sees all that is wrong, feels all that is wrong, takes upon his very body all that is wrong. More than perhaps anyone else I know or have heard of, Cole embodies this attribute of God. Even on those days when I know she feels so far from God, she is, to me, the clearest mirror. In her voice, in her body, in her mind, the face of Christ and the image of God cannot be mistaken. Woe is me if I do not love this woman, for then I have not loved Christ.

I hope, more than giving some money to help me celebrate her, that you would be thankful for her. I certainly am.