How do you spell adventure?

S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!


We had a surprise on Friday - A SNOW DAY!!!  Usually this is a common occurrence for us this time of year.  My normal February school day morning routine is to stalk NOAA and cross-reference with cancellations.com because snow day probability is quite high.  But this winter, this extraordinarily warm and snowless non-winter, snow days have been nil.  Friday - SURPRISE! -  was different!  A lovely blanket of snow and the gift of a day at home with my kids .


I love to surprise people.  There is something exhilarating about anticipating their reaction to the serendipitous moment, imagining their sudden delight.  There is something satisfying in knowing you had a part to play in making it happen.  I had fun scheming and conniving . . . er, I mean, planning Todd’s surprise 40th birthday party a few years ago.  (Would he want me to tell you how many years ago??)  For my 40th birthday, I didn’t want a party - I wanted a fun outing with the kids.  And I wanted to surprise them.  So, a few weeks ago, they woke up, got ready, grabbed their backpacks, and loaded in the van.  They THOUGHT they were headed to school.  What they didn’t know was they were really headed for an overnight stay at an indoor water-park!!   Talk about surprise!!  We didn’t tell them where we were going until we got there and their guesses were priceless - London, Chuck E. Cheese, the grandparents’ house, to name a few.  And their reaction when they learned the truth was enthusiastic, to say the least!  We had a great time and made some great memories.  


God seems to really enjoy surprising people, too.  I can imagine Mary Magdalene’s surprise being bested only by her  joy when she discovered that “the  gardener” was  really her resurrected Lord.  I love the story of barren Sarah’s surprise at the laughable notion that she would bear a son in her old age.   In fact, so many of the great surprises in the Bible were regarding babies - Rebekah’s twins, Hannah’s Samuel, Manoah’s  Sampson.  I can barely wrap my mind around Jochebed’s surprise when the baby she had given up to the Nile was returned  to her breast.


Some of God’s greatest surprises in my life have been regarding babies.  There was the surprise call one evening 11 years ago with the news of our doubly-loved baby  - loved by both his birth family and by us, the couple who had ached for a baby.  We named him David, meaning “beloved.”  Three years later there was the ultrasound that - SURPRISE! - showed twins!  Micah and Joel.  Our miracle family was complete - or so we thought!  But - SURPRISE! - a positive test out of the blue (or pink?!)  Our Valentine message 6 years ago went like this:


Roses are red
Chocolates are brown.
If you’re standing up,
You’d better sit down!
Life is sweet, 
Surprises are fun
Our NEXT SET OF TWINS
Is due October One!


And Benjamin and Catherine were born October 2nd.  We went from barren to 5 children in 5 years.


God does surprise the barren woman by settling her in her home as a happy mother of children (Psalm 113:9).  And he surprises us with hope when we think we’re at the end of our rope.  He surprises us with morning’s joy after night’s sorrow.  He surprises the sinner with grace.  When we don’t know where to turn, the surprise is a small voice behind us saying, “This is the way.  Walk in it.“  He surprises the broken-hearted, the captive, and the blind with healing, freedom, and vision.


Be on the look out - God just might have a surprise for you today!