Plans…and Surprises!

  While I love being surprised, half of the fun is trying to find out what the surprise is ahead of time. This goes back to my childhood days when Mom would start hiding her Christmas purchases around the house. Then she’d make a threat to us kids: “If you touch a present before Christmas, I’m taking it back.” That was usually enough to deter us from touching, but not from searching for those tantalizing presents. It was so hard to wait for Christmas to arrive.

   Knowing how much I enjoy surprises, Al decided to try to pull one off for my birthday at the end of October. He began acting very mysteriously about a week ahead, only telling me that we would be taking a trip for my birthday and would need to take ‘dressy’ clothes to wear.

   Questioning him was futile. He was careful not to give anything away and quickly deleted any emails that had to do with the surprise. Of course I made a few logical deductions, like it was going to be an overnight trip which meant we weren’t going to Hawaii! And dressy clothes meant a nice restaurant for dinner somewhere.

   On the morning of my birthday, he surprised me with a beautiful card; and then, once the dogs were taken to the kennel, we were on our way. But where? Normally, I do the navigating with the help of the GPS on the cell phone. This time, however, he had written down all of the directions on a small piece of paper. I felt lost without the phone in my hand!  

   First we drove northwest towards Lansing, then headed south almost to Ann Arbor. Once we had to take a detour back to the freeway due to a washed out bridge! I had a feeling we were lost at that time, but didn’t want to say anything. It really didn’t matter because it didn’t seem like we were on a time schedule anyway.

   When a freeway sign for Detroit came into view, our car veered in that direction. East? Back towards Detroit? We had been on the road for what seemed like a very long time. At one point, when Al stopped to fill up the gas tank, his little paper slipped under the car and he had to back up the car in order to retrieve it.

   It was all very funny, although frustrating at times. After a big loop of nearly 100 miles, we pulled into the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, only about a 30 minute drive from our house! A few weeks earlier, we had ridden by the beautiful center on our bicycles. That’s when he got the inspiration to surprise me with an overnight stay there.

   When the fellow checking us in at the front desk of the hotel found out that it was my birthday, he gave us a coupon for a complimentary breakfast the next morning and arranged for a room with a wonderful view of the city and its unique skyline. We were treated very well and were given a few extras that even Al didn’t anticipate, like being on the 66^th floor, a bowl of fresh fruit from room service and the free breakfast. 

   My husband did a wonderful job in orchestrating this surprise, which was a great success! It is easy to make a spiritual application from this experience. I am often surprised by the way God works in my life and in the lives of others. Even though we might feel lost along the way, He too does a wonderful job of orchestrating the details when we trust Him and leave it all in His hands. He loves us!

“ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Birthday Bouquet and other surprises!

from left to right, Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park and Ford Field

Detroit at night from 66th floor.

The Renaissance Center on the Detroit River, where we stayed.