I’m not usually much of a surprise person. I suppose that comes from my personal history. In my experience surprises are usually painful — the bigger the surprise, the harder it is to deal with. Because of my past, I don’t always react well to surprises, and I certainly have not been open to receiving surprises, or the unexpected from Spirit/God.
But.. I got a wonderful, and much needed slap across the face from Spirit/God that my usually perspective on surprises is…. simply wrong.
My oldest daughter and her boyfriend had scheduled a trip to visit for four days. They arrived Thursday evening just as the Christmas concert my two youngest were playing in had finished. My eldest texted me and I told her to meet us at the house instead of the auditorium, because we were just leaving.
Friday we all went hiking. A six mile hike, in all. We took them up the mountain and around the lake. My daughter had been there before, but this was her boyfriends first trip out. Everyone had fun, the kids got a chance to reconnect, and we all got to know the boyfriend a little better.
But the surprise came on Saturday afternoon.
We were all in the kitchen making what was dubbed “Thanksgiving 2”, when all four dogs started barking. My daughter wondered out loud what all the commotion was about.
My son replied, “There’s probably a chicken or an opossum on the porch.”
My eldest answered, “You should go check.”
My son gave her his best annoyed teenager sigh, but went to do as his sister asked.
My son kind of shouted, “What are YOU doing here?”
I hurried over to the door to find out what was wrong only to find my second daughter standing at the front door.
I squealed. I cried, and I squealed again. I have no real clue what I said.. but I’m pretty sure the neighbors heard me — they live almost a quarter mile away.
Having BOTH girls home for our second Thanksgiving, and to help put up the tree and assorted other Christmas decorations was simply the best surprise EVER. They’re gone now. My eldest and her boyfriend both had to be back to work on Monday, and my second daughter had to be to work this afternoon, she flew out super early this morning. But, I’m still excited and happy they surprised me. I’ll never be able to live down the screaming and squealing that happened when I saw my girl at the door. No, really.. NEVER— they got it on video.
Sitting here thinking about the wonderful weekend my kids gave me I am thankful for thoughtfulness and proud of them. Okay, I’m thankful for my kids every single moment of my life and I am proud of them all the time.
I learn from my children all the time. This time they taught me to embrace surprises. It’s a reminder to allow surprises into my life instead of avoiding and dreading them.
Thanks, ladies.
