Sharing Our Faith at Andi's Party

Had a great party for Andi this morning. Well, it was great because Andi loved it, and she was the birthday girl. The games didn't go very well, it rained off and on, and I didn't get to spend much quality time with our guests. But Andi, knowing what is most important, called me over to sit with her while she ate lunch. It was like one of those shots made popular by the Matrix - when everything around seems frozen in time, and the actor at the center of the camera draws all the attention. God gave me the grace to see that sitting with Andi was much more important than making sure the kids didn't trample the tomato plants or throw sand out of the sandbox. So we sat and talked.
While she was eating, she said "Daddy, I love my pirate party". In case you were wondering...we did a Dora the Explorer party with a pirate theme. Not the typical girl's birthday party, I know. But our family had fun with it.
Also, we did what our family always does on a person's birthday - we paused to give thanks to God for the life he's given them, and to ask his blessing on their next year. It was cool, because we had two Buddhists and a few non-religious types at the party, and it was the first time we'd done anything overtly Christian in front of them.
We shared our faith with our friends today, and it wasn't forced or artificial. It flowed out of our life. I had thought about it beforehand - but there's a difference between being planned and being artificial. Sharing our faith isn't primarily about telling people things they ought to believe, it's about letting them see, experience, and possibly participate in our faith-response to God.