Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thess 5:11)

Some people don’t like celebrating or even acknowledging their birthdays, but I’ve never been that way. I view my birthday as an opportunity to connect with friends and family. It’s a time for introspection. It’s a time for fun. And in August 2020, during the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m reflecting on the birthday memory that stands out the most.

One of my most vivid birthday memories is from a couple of decades ago. (How did I get so old?!) My Chicken Soup for the Shopper’s Soul short story, “The Birthday Surprise,” is about my twentieth birthday, when I lived in Germany with my then-husband, who was in the US Army. I had been there about three months and hadn’t met many women yet. My husband was being sent on maneuvers for a few days, so I planned to spend the day alone, thousands of miles from family and friends, feeling sorry for myself. (I know, it wasn’t my finest moment.)

When my birthday rolled around, the wife of another soldier, whom I had met at a cookout about a week prior, surprised me with dinner and a chocolate birthday cake. My husband had mentioned my upcoming birthday to her husband at that cookout. He thought that perhaps the fellow soldier’s wife could check on me, but she took it to another level. It’s still one of my favorite birthday memories.

This year, as COVID-19 continues to spread, it feels as if the world has turned upside down. Change and fear of the unknown abound. I’m reminded of that sad young woman in Germany who felt, at the time, that her world had been upended. And I was right that my life would never be the same, but it turned out to be in a good way.

I knew Daniela, the other soldier’s wife, for only three months. We lost touch when her husband was transferred back to the States, but I’ve never forgotten her or the impact her act of kindness had on me. Not only did she celebrate my birthday, but she also took me under her wing and taught me about being an army wife. Because of her friendship, I endured the challenge of living overseas, even though I never totally adjusted.

Daniela’s act of kindness showed me that God saw me—my pain and my fear and my loneliness—and he cared for me so much that he sent a friend just days before my birthday so that I wouldn’t have to be alone. He provided for me then, and he continues to do so today. We never know when our actions will impact others for the better and allow us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I hope that others will see him in me, and this birthday memory has reminded me just how powerful one small act can be.

Dear Jesus, thank you for Daniela and so many family and friends like her who have helped me along the way. You see me and know me, and you provide others to see me and walk through things with me here on Earth. Thank you for showing up when I feel lost and alone. Help me to do the same for others. Amen.