Surprise!!! Roadtrip!!!

Don't you just love fall? The colors, the smells, the cool, brisk mornings; I love it all! It's truly my favorite time of year.

This weekend, I went to the women's retreat with a group from church. I made some friends, had some fun, learned a lot, and got absolutely no sleep! It's a good thing this only happens once a year, I'm too old to do it more often!

The Commander and I, finally, were able to pull one over on the brothers. I had to leave Friday morning for the retreat, which, since it was a teachers workday, meant the boys would have been home alone all day. It wouldn't have been a problem for any of them except Scamp. I don't mind leaving him with them for short periods, but, since I'm a little attached to him and would just as soon he have all his digits upon my return, other plans had to be made for him. The adults hatched a plan! The commander took Friday off to, at least we told the boys, take care of them while I was gone. They were told they had to go to Surfer Dudes eye appointment and then would spend the day at a museum with their Dad. They were not happy about it. Mumbles complained that it wasn't even uniquely boring, it was "cliche boring"! lol Little did they know I was secretly at work!

Friday morning arrived bright and early and we got the brothers up before the sun. You should have heard them complain! We explained, in order to save money we had to make Surfer Dude's appointment in a town not exactly near us and they would have to drive a bit. So, we piled them all in the car and The Commander started driving south. They got all the way to the South Carolina border before they realized something was up. The eye appointment truly wasn't in town here, what they didn't know, was that it was back in our home town! I had packed them the night before while they slept and the Commander had sneaked the suitcases out the back door the next morning while they stumbled around half asleep. Museum, indeed! lol We showed them we may be old, but we've still got some tricks up our sleeves. We had already made plans for them to spend time with their friends and go to the High School football game. They were incredulous that we had pulled it off. I think I laughed all the way to the retreat! Needless to say, fun was, indeed, had by all.

I love doing things for my brood that I know will bring them joy. A trip to Georgia was cool, but a surprise trip to Georgia was even cooler. I think sometimes God does the same thing for us. We have times in our lives that are "less than cool", times we look at the future and see nothing but a day at a museum, when God has something much cooler planned for us. The joy I got out of doing this for my kids was enormous. God loves us so much more than we can love our kids.
Some of the attitudes in the days leading up to the trip were less than stellar. They were, shall we say, really crappy. (yes, I did just use that word, sometimes it's the only one that fits!) How many times do we have that type of attitude about what we perceive is in our future? Because our Heavenly Father loves us beyond words we have to trust whatever He brings into our lives is there for our good, even if we can't see it right away. I told the brothers to trust us, that they would have fun, that maybe they would be surprised at what a good time they had that day. They were considerably less than trusting. Mumbles even replied "Dad is just not the surprising kind". I nearly choked on my laughter when he said that.

We serve a surprising God. Do you think Mary and Martha were surprised when Christ raised Lazarus from the dead? When all looked hopeless, Jesus had something up his sleeve. Do you think the disciples were surprised when He fed the 5000 with just a few fish and loaves? How surprised were the disciples when Jesus rose from the grave? All had looked lost a few days before, darkness engulfed their world and hope was a scarce commodity, but a surprise was coming! God is a good God and everything that comes from Him is good, even if we can't see it right away. He is a surprising God! If you look in the word you will find time after time when He surprised His people. Abraham and Sara, now there's a surprise if ever there was one! Daniel in the lion's den, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abendigo in the fiery furnace, another surprise. The disciples seem to be loosing hope and trust in him when the storm came up suddenly on the sea of Galilee, you might say it surprised them, but the biggest surprise was when Jesus came walking to them on the water, called one of them out of the boat, then climbed in there with them and calmed the sea. Do you really think they were expecting that? I'll bet if you asked them they would say it was worth going through the storm to have that experience with Him.

In the big things and in little things, God is a God of surprises. It still surprises and amazes me on a daily basis that He prefers me, He loves me, He sings over me. He delights in surprising His children. Sometimes it's a beautiful sunset, a bird singing by your window, an unexpected phone call from an old friend or even something as simple as your favorite candy bar on sale! ( I'm a firm believer that chocolate is, in fact, from God and will be prominently featured at the marriage supper of the lamb) So look around today, be aware, take time to acknowledge the little "surprises" He may plant in your way and just say "thanks". He delights in you, in me, in all His children. Trust in that, hope in that, revel in that.

What has God surprised you with lately? Share your story, we'd all love to hear it!

I'm going now. Unless God is going to surprise me with the gift of a laundry fairy, I've got to get busy around here!

Soaked in His blessings,

Spokenfor