diff --git a/bot.lisp b/bot.lisp
index 8f3c446..84de8ca 100644
--- a/bot.lisp
+++ b/bot.lisp
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 (in-package :birthday-boy)
 
 (load (sb-ext:posix-getenv "ASDF"))
-(asdf:load-systems :dexador :local-time :jonathan :cl-yaml)
+(asdf:load-systems :dexador :local-time :jonathan :cl-yaml :alexandria)
 
 (defvar *birthdays* nil
   "Hashtable of birthdays.")
@@ -95,14 +95,18 @@
 
 
 (defun make-bday-message (person)
-  (format nil "Hey hey hey, its the birthday boy, and I am pleased to announce that it is ~A's today.  Congratulation, I love you." person))
+  (format nil (alexandria:random-elt (gethash "bot_message_template" *config*)) person))
+
+(defun seed-random-state ()
+  "Seed the random state with current time for true randomness between runs"
+  (setf *random-state* (make-random-state t)))
 
 (defun main ()
   (dolist (person (collect-bdays))
     (message (make-bday-message (gethash "person" person)) "ROOM_ID")))
 
 (defun check-required-env-vars ()
-  (let ((required-vars '("bot_name" "bot_pw" "bot_access_token" "homeserver_url" "room_id"))
+  (let ((required-vars '("bot_name" "bot_pw" "bot_access_token" "homeserver_url" "room_id" "bot_message_template"))
         (missing-vars '()))
 
     (dolist (var required-vars)
@@ -120,10 +124,12 @@
   (let* ((args sb-ext:*posix-argv*)
          (config-file (or (second args) "./config.yml")))
     (format t "Using config file: ~A~%" config-file)
+
     (unwind-protect
          (let* ((base-config (cl-yaml:parse (pathname config-file)))
                 (*birthdays* (gethash "birthdays" base-config))
                 (*config* (gethash "config" base-config)))
+           (seed-random-state)
            (check-required-env-vars)
            (main))
       (sb-ext:exit :code 0))))
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 8a01110..edc0575 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
               local-time
               deploy
               cl-yaml
+              alexandria
             ]);
         in {
           # Per-system attributes can be defined here. The self' and inputs'