31 Days of Savoring the Sweet Stuff: Day 22- Surprises

My brother meeting my daughter for the first time

I'm one of those people who love surprises.  I'm talking about the good surprises in life, where people genuinely want to surprise you with joy and happiness...not the kind where you get into your car and are surprised to find you have about 2 miles worth of gas left in the tank.  No, I'm talking about the good ones...the kind where tears just flow due to the sheer joy of the moment.  Those moments in life are gifts. 

I've been blessed by several of those moments in my lifetime and without question, they are some of the sweetest moments in my life.  Two that instantly pop into my head are my engagement day when Joe popped the question and I realized that that was only the beginning of one of the most magical and romantic days of my entire life filled with surprise after surprise so lovingly thought out and planned by my beau...all just for me.  I swear, I thought my heart would burst!  I know now, that God was just expanding my hearts capacity to hold all of the love that was ahead. 

Shortly after saying 'YES!'

The second surprise that pops into my head happened on Lily's birthday.  My younger brother lives in Jackson, Wyoming and I did not think he was going to be able to meet her for months.  However, I had no idea that the night before she was born, he flew into town and surprised me at the hospital when we were in the recovery room!  I love that he was one of the first people she got to meet in this world and it meant so much to me to have him there for such a monumental event in my life. (photo at top of post)

Some people don't like surprises but I love them.  I even surprise myself sometimes.  I often worry that my heart has become cynical or hardened due to news reports, my interactions with people or just an attack from the Enemy.  But then there are these beautiful moments where I catch myself being overwhelmed by love, emotion, happiness, or sentimentality and I surprise myself in the recognition that in order to feel these things, my heart has to remain open, tender and soft ...and I'm so thankful all over again. 

Being surprised (in a great way) is one of the sweet things in life...even when you surprise yourself!