Best Surprise Ever! By Lane Jordan Burday

What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – the things God has prepared for those who love him (I Corinthians 2:9).

Our precious granddaughter, 15, has been acting in plays for about five years, and she loves it. She joined a new company – Encore Productions Ohio – a full-fledged theater group. Beautiful costumes, great music, and the use of a large theater.

This year, they performed Anastasia, and our granddaughter had multiple parts. However, because of different circumstances, we didn’t think we could attend this year. Her mother, my daughter, thought it would be all right to skip this year.

However, about six days ago, she said that our granddaughter was very disappointed that we would not be there. We had no idea it mattered that much to her. But it did.

My husband quickly made a decision. We would go no matter what it took! I was ecstatic, even though we only had one day there and had to come home the next. Within a few hours, Scott had plane tickets, a rental car, and a hotel room for one night!

We got up at 5:00 for an 8:00 flight, got the rental car as soon as we got off the plane, and drove straight to the theater with only 15 minutes before curtain time! No one knew we were coming! Scott really wanted the whole family to be surprised. And oh yes, they were! As I was looking for seats up front, the other grandparent (who lives there) saw me and asked my son-in-law, “Is that Lane?”

I looked up, and the shock of surprise, along with great smiles on my daughter’s face, was amazing!

After many hugs and explanations, the play started, and it was better than we ever expected. We were so impressed by her artistic talent. When it was over, we waited while friends and the family went up to see the cast and Sara, giving her flowers and lots of encouraging words. My daughter motioned us up, and after a few minutes, Sara looked over, saw us, and, literally, her mouth hung open. She immediately started to cry, ran to us, and hugged and hugged us. We started crying as the rest of the family did.

A family member said, “Every penny you spent to get here was so worth it!” And it was. We got a quick bite to eat and then came back for the evening performance, which was even better, and then more hugs and tears when it was over. It was the last performance, and the whole cast was both happy and sad. And Sara didn’t leave our side.

Isn’t this how God at times works in our lives? God has planned so many surprises for us that we could not even imagine them. Why does He do this? To show His love to those who love Him. I bet He gets just as excited as we were when we planned this surprise for Sara. Just as she could never have thought or conceived this would happen, so does God plan things for us because of His love.

This Easter week, remember how much Christ loves you. He gave up His life so that you and I could live in purity before His Father. He washed our sins away with His blood. And now we can go “straight to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 14:6) and be with our heavenly father. Nothing can ever separate us from His love—and it is a gift to us so we will be in heaven forever.

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:40).