sur·prise (sr-prz)

tr.v. sur·prised, sur·pris·ing, sur·pris·es
1. To encounter suddenly or unexpectedly; take or catch unawares.
2. To attack or capture suddenly and without warning.
3. To cause to feel wonder, astonishment, or amazement, as at something unanticipated.

What is it about surprises?
...I have a love/hate relationship with them, I think.

Yesterday we pulled off a huge surprise birthday party for our friend Libby. While she was absolutely beside herself, Sarah P. and I both had a moment when we caught ourselves with butterflies of anticipation, covered in chills and grins we couldn't wipe off of our faces. We weren't the ones being surprised, so I began to wonder where these contagious feelings of surprise come from? I would have thought I'd have felt nothing but relief after spending 2 weeks keeping it a secret, orchestrating 286 lies to Libby, cursing the crate paper and balloons while decorating my back yard and dodging her text messages and emails about her birthday plans. But in the moments leading up to the big gasp, I was in my backyard surrounded by 20+ super friends anxiously awaiting the text message saying they were on our street and watching for the back door to open. It happened....she went crazy, we smiled, we laughed, we hugged...we pulled it off!

I know we all experience unexpected surprises in our day to day lives that aren't always this epic or monumental, but is the true depth of our character measured through our reactions and how we deal with the surprise?

Do we gauge it by the number of chills that fill our arms or the number of tears that seep from our eyes?

Is it wrong if we curl up and want to sleep away the situation or should we force ourselves to "talk about it" because that's what everyone says we should do?

Will we ever be able to thank our friends enough for pulling off such a gracious act and should we feel guilty for not being able to articulate it enough?

These are tough questions, hard feelings and intense emotions....all a product of this complex, two syllable word called surprise. It bothers me that the content of one word can ignite such incredible joy or deliver the most heartbreaking, life changing news.

There is a quote from Dan In Real Life that says, "Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised." This really struck a chord with me, because while we all have a story that is a testament to this statement, the greater question is how do you plan to be surprised?

I don't know. Not sure that anyone does. But this forces me to attempt to live every day the best I can; grateful, gracious, and giving. The next surprise is inevitable, but I'll do my best to deal with it the best way I know how.