"Ready, Set....SURPRISE!"

The decor. The planning. The food. The drinks. The guest list. This is what a surprise party is all about. All of these little details can take weeks, even months to plan and be sure it's carried out well. First and foremost, you have to have an accomplice, or a best friend who you can blackmail into taking on the endeavor with you. Then comes the planning: where will the party be hosted, what are we going to eat, where is it going to come from, what embarrassing game can we make the guest of honor play? Once all of that is decided, then comes my favorite part...the decor! 

In my opinion, a party isn't a party without decor. It makes or breaks the atmosphere. Nothing screams "PARTY!" like wild, obnoxious streamers, gigantic balloons, over-the-top centerpieces and party music. I have prepared for many parties in my lifetime. Whether hosting or participating, I've seen my fair share of planned parties, but until this past week I've never thrown a "surprise party." When preparing a surprise party, every detail matters and the guest of honor is always in the forefront of you mind. 


Recently, I (with the help of some wonderful ladies) prepared a Surprise 30th Birthday party for my sister-in-law. I found myself reflecting on the guest of honor quite a bit during the preparation. It took a couple of months to plan out. I analyzed every detail, questioning possibilities of restaurants or clubhouses to host the shindig, kids or no kids, the type of food she would enjoy, etc. But the question that remained constant in my mind with every decision made was this...Would this particular detail of the party cause her to stop and realize how loved and important she is?


About a week before the party, as I was tying ribbon around a handmade centerpiece, this simple little truth came to me. Isn't that what God did for us? Didn't he throw us a "surprise party" of His own?

 He found his accomplice in Jesus. He carried out a detailed plan for His Son to die a brutal death...for us. It took years to carry out this plan, but it was perfectly perfect. He kept us in the forefront of his mind as he treaded down that dark path to the cross, all the while carrying our burdens on his shoulders, knowing in the end, when we finally walked into the light, we would know His sacrifice...and we would be surprised. I believe my face was what He pictured as he suffered. I believe He saw your face in midst of the pain. He did it all for the moment we would stop everything and say, "Was all of this done just for me?" 


What a plan! It was decorated with moments of happiness, moments of anger, moments of sadness, and times of pain, but it was prepared just for us. For realization we don't have to spend an eternity without Him, for the understanding that He will not treat us as we deserve, but He will freely give us grace...that is why he saw it through til the end. On that day, 2000 years ago, He breathed His last breath, knowing we would one day walk into the Ultimate Surprise...and we would realize we are loved. We are accepted. We are His. 

"Imagine a stormy day at sea: your ship yielding to a relentless wind, pummeled by crashing waves, subject to the awesome force of nature. A force that is both fierce and majestic. A power that is nothing short of furious. Such is God’s intense love for His children.

 There is nowhere God won’t go to find us. No country too distant. No terrain too treacherous. No risk too great. It is a Father’s search for His lost son, His lost daughter. And there are no boundaries to where His love will take Him in order to find us, embrace us, and carry us home!"