Thing I Love Thursdays 3.23.06

Thing I Love: Surprises, good ones.

It was Tuesday, March 21st. I had just attended the funeral for Sgt. Kevin Akins, and had been much in prayer and thought for his family and the family of SSgt. Joseph Ray. It hadn't really been a "great" day. "Attending funerals" is not on my list of things to do have the best day ever. I was sad. I was exahausted from all the crying.

I had made plans to attend a concert with Dove Award winner Kyle Matthews at Mars Hill College that night. Marty and Andrew, and their ever growing band, were opening with some praise & worship music, and so I thought I would go hang out, have a little worship time, get my mind off all the craziness of the day, then come home to crash on the couch. Marty had told me to be ready at 6:30, and he would come pick me up.

So, I was getting ready (ie. putting on non-waterproof mascara and reapplying the make-up that was somewhere on a tissue) and I heard door shut outside (thought it was Marty), heard someone at the door (thought it was Marty) and heard someone knock on the door (thought it was Marty, and that he should use his very own house key to get it-the door was locked). So, I ran into the kitchen to unlock the door. As I did, I saw the front end of a black car in the drive. I was expecting a package to be delievered, so I thought it was the delivery dude. Well, as I rounded the corner, I couldn't believe my eyes. There before me stood Brooke, Maleah & Lori!!! It was such a surprise!!! Well, you must remember that this had been a VERY emotional day for me, so when I saw them standing there, Maleah with a bouquet of flowers, all waving and smiling, I could do nothing but stand there and cry. I didn't open the door. I just stood there...hand over mouth...tears streaming down...door shut and still locked. FINALLY, after all the slow-motion-ness of the event stopped, I realized that I should probably let them in!!! They explained to me that since I had already planned my own birthday party, they wanted to do something for me for my birthday. (Note to reader: I had planned my own party because I wanted to make sure that we could all get together and celebrate! I waited until a week before to officially plan and send out an announcement, so it's not like I had been planning for months or anything. However, I would like to say that appreciate Maleah's willingness to plan her own birthday party this week...even though her birthday is in July! Planning is essential, my friends!) So, they surprised me at my house with flowers and cards and even a fun CD! They whisked me off to dinner, they wouldn't tell me where, but it was Chili's.

The funniest thing was that they had pulled this whole plan together, but hadn't thought about a way to keep me from eating dinner before they got there. By the time they showed up, I had already had dinner...3 pieces of pizza...I wasn't hungry anymore. However, I did go to Chili's with them, and had a nice little Cesar salad. on our way out, a very mean lady in some very not-so neat make-up asked Maleah if she was on drugs. The proceeded to tell us that our laughter in the restaurant was "Inconsiderate". Well, in case she hadn't noticed, we were in Chili's...not the Grove Park Inn...and she just so happened to come on a night when they didn't pass out the "No Laughing" rule at the door. Genius, I tell ya.

Then, we took a nice trip to Target, where I got a whole bag of stuff for $4.71.

Then, they took me to the finale (drumroll, please) DAIRY QUEEN!!! I am a HUGE fan of ice cream, and especially, the Blizzard. Well, I wanted a Reese's Peanut Butter ( no surpise there) Blizzard, so that's what I ordered. Then, the girl behind the counter said "I've got a Butterfinger Blizzard" and I was like, "Well, I had a Heath bar Blizzard, but I'll eat Butterfinger." It was the most confusing thing ever. I ordered one thing...told them I had something else...and ended up eating something totally different! It was ok though, because the Butterfinger Blizzard was delicious!

I'm telling you, these friends absolutely made my day...week...month! It was such a surprise and such a blessing, and I will never forget it! I love you, friend 1, friend 2 and friend 4!!! Thanks for a wonderful night!