Little Surprises

A few weeks ago, I had an unexpected surprise in the midst of mourning.  I had been at my grandmother’s visitation, and while catching up with family is nice, my heart was sad.  It had been a long day as my grandfather had a heart attack that morning so I had spent the day at the hospital to just run home and grab my husband for the visitation.

My extended family had agreed to meet for dinner after leaving the funeral home as my brother was in from out-of-town.  My husband was in the truck waiting for me when I climbed into the truck.  I admit my focus was not on my surroundings as I sat there.  He had driven just a short distances when he kind of chuckled.  I asked him what was so funny.  And he replied “You’ll figure it out.”

I paused, a little annoyed with the coyness, trying to figure it out.  It was dark outside.  The car in front of us was traveling slower than I thought it should but it wouldn’t be funny to husband.  As I started to let my frustration rise, he said “You have a surprise coming.”  Again I was annoyed as I really am not big on surprises.  He said something again about a surprise.  He finally got his surprise to speak from the back seat.  My three-year-old grandson had decided that he wanted to ride with us over to the restaurant.  They had decided that he would surprise me since I didn’t know he was with us as I had not walked out to the truck with my husband.

My husband had been trying to “cue” our grandson to surprise me.  As I thought about it, there had been a little rustling in the back seat, but I didn’t think much about it.  I certainly would not have thought that he was in the car seat behind me as he generally talks unless he is asleep while we are riding.  When my husband mentioned a surprise one of the children being with us was not what entered my mind.  We laughed and my grandson just loved that he had scared his Mimi.

I think that God often chuckles as He seeks to surprise us with His blessings.  He knows when we are going through rough times, and even in the midst of trials and tribulations, He knows the small little things that will speak to our hearts and remind us He is there even then.

Often times, like the rustling in the back seat, we can miss what God is trying to do around us as we keep our focus internally or on the circumstances we are facing.  Eventually the blessing comes forth, but because we aren’t looking for one it takes longer for us to take hold of what it right there waiting.

Sometimes God’s blessings don’t look like we expect.  I get trapped into thinking that God has to do things the way I am expecting for them to happen.  What happens is that I miss the joy of walking through the full experience of God’s blessing because I am so focused on how I think it should be.  I still get the blessing, but I miss part of the joy God meant for me to have with it.

Sometimes God’s blessings aren’t even in our view.  I think I love these surprises from God the best because I feel like He is saying “This is just for you because I love you.”  When He provides without me having an expectation of anything from Him, I know it is just Him showing off in His love for me.  There is nothing greater than feeling His love so personally.

At the end of God’s blessings, is a time of fellowship with thanksgiving.  There is a joy unspeakable when you stop to see the little surprises of God’s blessings.

Blessings are little surprises from God that are meant to help give us hope during difficult seasons.  They are His way of sharing His love with us.  Blessings are mean to draw us into deeper fellowship with Him.  They may not always come when we want them or as we expect them, but God’s blessings will always overtake us.