Oh, there are so many ways I could go with this blog post.
Has life surprised me? Oh yes, yes indeed. I just went upstairs and kissed goodnight one of the most a-ma-zing surprises in my life: my caboose kiddo. The child who astounded me by showing up when my husband and I were parenting three teenagers. True story: My husband-the-doctor had listened to my litany of odd physical symptoms and said, “Well, we know you’re not pregnant.”
And a few weeks later we were both surprised by the sound and sight of a tiny beating heart on an ultrasound monitor.
To be honest, I didn’t consider my unexpected pregnancy a gift — not right away at least. Nope. Finding myself taken down by morning sickness and confronted by the idea of maternity clothes was an interruption of my plans and my goals.
Now, years later, I can tell you that God’s fingerprints were all over that life changing late-in-life pregnancy. I was flabbergasted — but God knew all along the gifts he’d hidden in the surprise:
- the chance to experience motherhood in a way I never had
- the joy of seeing my three older children love their much-younger sister
- the freedom found in releasing my plans so that I could embrace God’s plans
In Your Words: When has a surprise turned out to be an unexpected gift or blessing in your life?
Discovering the Gifts Hidden Inside the Unexpected Click to Tweet
Do You See Life’s Surprises as a Gift? Click to Tweet
Congratulations to Wilani Wahl, who won a copy of one of my novels through the “Something for Every Reader” blog tour hosted by author Joanne Bischof, as well as a copy of Joanne’s novel, Be Still My Soul.
Comments 11
In July of 2002 , Hubby and I had the “we’re not going to have any more children” discussion. The next day, I found out I was pregnant. And where was Hubby? On his way to China. Thankfully he called me from Vancouver, just before his flight left for Beijing.
Our #4 came along in February of 2003. I turned 40 in May of 2003. I did NOT expect to be nursing an infant at 40. Nooooooo.
But that baby up-ended the lives of our 3 very quiet, QUIET children. Where 1, 2 and 3 are very reserved, #4 is a PARTAY!!!
Where 1, 2 and 3 would prefer to stand in the background, #4 is the LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! baby.
He is hilarious and gives them all a run for their money.
He has no use for not having a good time.
He LOVES to make people happy and he is a social…butterfly? No, more like a blue heron on Red Bull.
In essence, 1, 2 and 3 are Hubby’s and #4? Well, guess who?!
In 2010 our twin boys were born. The pregnancy wasn’t a surprise, but having a bonus baby (as our doctor called him), was the surprise. That same year God brought two more surprises into our life. First, I thought we would be homeschooling our oldest who was entering kindergarten. I had been homeschooled and it NEVER crossed my mind that we wouldn’t. But I was wrong. Homeschooling a kindergartner with a preschooler and twin infants in the house was more than I could handle. Second, I had intended to stay in our home we lived in forever. It was built in 1892, and for this history-loving girl, it was a dream come true. God had a different plan. We bought a 1950’s rambler! I never expected that! The bonus? It’s a large, walk-out home on the Mississippi, in the most wonderful neighborhood ever. So yes, I was surprised, but the blessings have far outweighed my original plans. I’ve learned to never say never–or always. 🙂
God’s dreams for me always fill me with surprise. I never expected them, so thankful for them and all the additional blessings that have added to me because of them.
I love that line, “Well, at least we know you’re not pregnant.” Made me chuckle. 🙂
Most of the surprises have happened in my life pretty quickly–like the time I got a little nudge to do a random job search and within two weeks was packing up and moving, leaving friends, my cute duplex and awesome roomie and a job I really loved. Big and quick surprise–but really great. I sometimes think God surprises me quickly because I’ll back out if it takes too long. Haha!
I. Loved. This!! I smiled and giggled as I read because I could sooo relate! (In fact, I began “stalking” you, Beth, because of life events we shared in common.) Our youngest, too, was a surprise blessing. When our doctor first told me I was pregnant, I said, “But wait! How did it happen?” Of course, he laughed. Our oldest child was 10 and we’d already given away every stick of baby furniture, etc.
To show how cool God is–He gave us a boy AND a girl! (Of course… she makes up for about 5 boys!) And our church family gave me the biggest baby shower ever–we wanted for nothing. 🙂
A surprise that brought blessings…finding Bella the Wheelchair Dog on July 5 of this year.
Her spirit gave me a much needed lift when I was feeling pretty low.
Um, yes. He has a way of shaking me up and surprising me too. And I’ve had one similar to yours,though she was only 3 years behind my other 2. But a definite surprise. Yet exactly what we needed–He knows, doesn’t He?:)
I view surprises as kisses from heaven. Sometimes they are small–a parking space close to the door when my knee is hurting, sometimes quite big like the 3-book contract when I was only looking for 1. That one actually took my breath. lol Love your posts!
I’ve always said I don’t like surprises, but if they’d help me embrace this one from your list, I could learn to like them more – the freedom found in releasing my plans so that I could embrace God’s plans. I want to do this daily whether I’m surprised or not.
The most recent surprise that’s turned out to be one of life’s biggest blessings … having a granddaughter instead of the grandson we were all sure was on his way.
I like Patrica’s comment about surprises being kisses from heaven. I guess I have come to expect the unexpected. That our Father will put interesting–surprising things in front of me every day. Like a loving parent wishes to amuse a loved child.
Then, there are those knock you off your feet, life-changing surprises. The kind you can’t understand until much later when the dust has settled. Making sense of some of those is still a WIP for me. ;).
And thanks to all moms (& dads) who welcome surprise babies! I was a surprise-and I married one!
A surprise that blessed me this summer was being able to go back to Indiana. Not only did I get to see my great-aunts and great-uncles, second-, third- and fourth-cousins, but I also had the extra bonus of doing a little research for my novel, meeting JoAnn Durgin in person, and hanging out at the zoo with a college student friend of mine (whom I met earlier in the summer when she got stuck on the side of the road and my family drove her 6 hours to her home since her car was stuck in the mechanic’s shop for a week). It was a wonderful vacation filled with blessings, and I smile every time I think about it.
Blessings,
Andrea