My siblings and I recently had the great fun of planning a surprise gathering in honor of our parents' 50th wedding anniversary. I'm not sure which was more enjoyable ~ the preparations and anticipation leading up to the day, or the event itself.
And though we eventually needed to resort to theft, deceit and outright lies to achieve the surprise, our parents were, indeed, totally caught off guard. (As I explained to the kids, it's alright to lie to your parents, but ONLY when it's their 50th anniversary, and ONLY if you come totally clean in the end. Hmmm, I wonder how that fuzzy logic will be applied in the future, but I digress...)
While we were happily counting down the days to the party, my parents continued living out daily life as usual. "If only they knew!" I often thought. I couldn't wait for them to share in the celebration.
Makes me wonder how often we're living life as usual, but behind the scenes, God is at work on our behalf. We may not yet see it, but the threads of a much bigger picture are being knit together. What joy we will know, when all is revealed. And God can't wait for us to share in the celebration.
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for
those who love Him."
(I Corinthians 2.9, NIV)
Imagine. "If only we knew" will one day become "we finally know!" Exciting to ponder, isn't it?
And so we celebrate the good things that are already ours ~ like 50th wedding anniversaries ~ and look forward to Surprises yet to be revealed.
For expectant hearts,
Lisa