Life is full of surprises...

Most of you who know me know I am rarely caught unable to find words. You've read them here. I write like I would talk - and sometimes I go on and on. I probably write what I would say if I could say all I wanted to...(whoa - tangent...). OK, back on track. Unable to find words. Being surprised to the point that literally you just sit with your mouth open, unable to speak.

That was me last Saturday - it was my birthday. I told Steve I just wanted a quiet day - time with family and our friends here. No big deal. That morning girlfriends from Atlanta called to say Happy Birthday to me - sweet things - calling me @ 8:30 am to wish me a good day. While we're on the phone I hear the doorbell ring - and am a bit confused (you know it's 8:30 am so I am not at my best). Looking at the door - in walk Amy, Jennifer & Melissa...the friends I was on the phone with...who were supposed to be in Atlanta, not walking in our front door in Oregon. I was so blown away I just sat on the floor mouth covered with one hand, the other still holding the phone to my left ear...and tears streaming down my face. I was SHOCKED! It blew me out of the water. Even sitting here most honestly I am tearing up again thinking that someone cared enough about me to fly out on my birthday. They've got to be nuts. (They are - that's part of why I love them!) Even now - I'm shocked. It almost doesn't seem real.

Tonight @ Crash (our Wednesday night middle school event) we talked about how much God loves us. How we listen to the insults, the putdowns, the "little voices" that tell us we're not worth it, or we're fat, or we're stupid, or we can't play tennis (another story for another day), or we won't amount to anything, or we'll regret decisions that we know are right...why do those things stick in our heads so strong?? Then...we talked about how God sees us. How He loves us. Our group spent a good bit of time talking about Zephaniah 3:17 which says "He rejoices over you with singing..." and the thought that God has a song just for you, about you and how much He loves you. Whoa! He loves me how much? I've caught a physical human glimpse of His love for me so many times this week... when my 3 dear friends walked in the door from Atlanta, when I heard about my husband and other friends here keeping it a secret and going to great lengths to surprise me, when the staff @ church today sang Happy Birthday in mosh pit style, when my friends and family called to say Happy Birthday, when my kids race into my room first thing in the morning to wake me up, when my friends were arguing over who would watch my kids while Steve & I were at Crash, when I looked up and saw a full moon tonight and thought about how we don't always see the whole moon, but it's there... See, God is full of surprises. And sometimes they are clear as day in front of our face, and we somehow miss it. Sometimes He's so obvious we can't. Sometimes we're too busy to see it...

I hope today you'll sit and just remember how much He loves you. He made you. He knows everything about you. He rejoices over you with singing. He knows the number of hairs on your head. Wow...we are loved so much.