Surprised?

...not really. :-)

My mom was so insistent that I wasn't allowed to have a party for my eighteenth birthday that I was almost sure she was trying to throw a surprise party. Then on Thursday night my family started getting weird. OK, so they're already weird (aren't all families?), but they managed to get weird-er. I'm a pretty smart girl, so I was able to figure out exactly when and where the party was going to be. The only thing left to surprise me was who was invited, and even that didn't surprise me much.

A family from our church came over "for dinner" and then my sister and the two oldest girls in that family took me to my room with strict instructions to keep me there. People began arriving and were ushered through the house and out the back door to the shop. My dog even started barking and everyone began shouting different things. Some said it was the neighbor boy, others said it was our little sisters ringing the doorbell. Uh-huh.

Finally my dad came down and said, "Do you girls want to watch us play ping-ping?" Yeah right Dad. There's a bunch of people out there and they're all going to yell "SURPRISE!" and embarrass me, etc, etc. But I played along. I seriously considered saying, "No, I don't think I want to go watch you guys. It's too cold and I'm really tired. In fact, what I really want to do is sleep." Oh, how that would have made them panic. Already the three other girls were practically hysterical from giddiness.

I did make them freak out just a little more by taking forever to find a jacket that matched my shirt. I tore our laundry room, coat closet, my brother's closet and my closet upside down until I finally found one that would "have to do." By this time they were basically dragging me out the door.

Everything went just as I predicted. I seriously think it would have been almost impossible for them to actually surprise me.

There were a lot of people there and I felt like the whole thing went so quickly. I didn't even get a chance to talk to everyone, which made me kind of upset. Oh well, I guess I'll have to talk to them later. I felt like the proverbial butterfly, flitting from conversation to conversation. Even still, I had fun. The worst thing was Mom making me open my presents with everyone watching. It felt like a baby shower or something, and I just felt really uncomfortable. I got so much stuff! The next day it took me a long time to put it all away. But the best present I got was a single red rose from my "grandparents." I had been hoping I would get a rose, and it almost made me cry because I knew that my grandma had known how much I love roses. It sits on my desk, reminding me of how much they love me and how well they know me. I'm about to cry just thinking about it!

God has given me such awesome friends. His love for me is so apparent through their love for me. I am so grateful that I get to spend this next year with them!