Surprises

I love it when a random thought leads to deep thinking.

Tonight's random thought was: I never expected to shampoo doll heads in my bathtub.  Then I thought: I never expected to shampoo doll heads and girl heads in my bathtub.  Then:  I never expected to shampoo doll heads and girl heads belonging to my daughters, as in plural, in my bathtub.

And it went on and on.  I realized, with a start, that most everything about my life, these days, has been a surprise.

• I never thought I would become the mother of three children.
• I never thought I would bring two of my three children into the world while in my 30's (34 and 36).
• I never thought, at 37, I would spend time in prayer for a fourth child.
• I never thought I would become someone who shops yard sales and thrift stores with enthusiam, purchasing things like doll heads that need shampooing.
• I never thought I would buy, with very little exception, new items only on sale.  I shopped Target toy clearance (for Christmas), today, in a Mister Rogers t-shirt and striped pajama capris.  (The funny thing is: I'm not surprised by my choice of attire, and--if you really know me--you're not, either!)
• I never thought the subject of any teaching I might do would be, not English, but Jesus: that I would grow so comfortable in my faith as to speak and write openly about it.

The list goes on and on.  But I think the thing that surprises me most is how deeply satisfied I feel.  I need to bust up some piles in my house and shed a few (ok, more than a few) pounds, and I want to try some new things, but I love my life.  I'm surprised, really, at just how much.

I wake up in the morning and recognize my husband and children as gifts, to me, from God.  Nothing much has turned out how I expected, but most everything has turned out better than I'd hoped.