SURPRISE! My granddaughter, Esther, stacks her wooden blocks: 4, 5, 6 – higher than she’s ever done. She claps her hands and laughs out loud, proud of her accomplishment. But then with just a wiggle the tower collapses and she tries to figure out why. Her tower wasn’t permanent. Things weren’t going to be as she’d hoped.

Surprises can be a good thing, like when my dorm-mates held a surprise wedding shower for me on the last day of finals, just when everyone was so busy packing to go home for the summer. I’d thought they’d forgotten my big day was coming up and I was disappointed. But Karl took me out for a soda and walked me back to the dorm a while later to find everyone in the lounge with good wishes, gifts and food to let us know they cared. Things weren’t as I’d expected them to be, and in this case it was a good thing.

What surprises you in your life today? High gasoline prices are no longer surprising. Cranky drivers refusing to graciously share the road are not surprising.

Some things do surprise us, like when we think we have a situation all figured out and then things are different than we expected. Young friends have commented about being out with their small children in a public place. These parents are stared at and people think because they have tattoos and piercings they can’t possibly be good parents. But the children of these young adults are much better behaved than many other kids at the mall today.

Teens often receive the brunt of poor expectations. I was sitting at the food court at the mall last week, by myself, when two tall, scruffy teenage boys started to approach my area with their food trays. They were dressed all in black and laughing loudly. I wasn’t sure what to expect; surely not what happened. As the teens sat down a couple tables over, they quieted themselves and bowed their heads in prayer before digging into their food court feast. Things certainly were different than I’d expected them to be.

This world is full of surprises. Our creator knew that was always going to be the case. That’s why we were given such active brains with the ability to make independent decisions and choices for our lives. Each day on this earth we’re faced with one thing after another that we need to think about, pray about and decide about.

It used to be “in the old days” that people didn’t choose to be different. They dressed similarly to their parents’ generation, chose sensible cars, joined the bowling team and went to church on Sundays. (At least, that’s how it seems looking backward through rose-colored glasses.)

Today all of us have many opportunities and obligations clamoring after our limited 168 hours each week. Maybe it was once a priority to seek God’s guidance on how to spend those hours, but today’s choices seem to be driven by necessity. There’s so much that NEEDS to be done, how can I best invest my time so it benefits me, keeps me healthy and my relationships harmonious?

Well, surprise. This isn’t such a modern dilemma. The fishermen Jesus called as disciples needed to make a choice: continue fishing, providing an income for their families, or find time to listen to Jesus telling about God’s love coming into the world. Martin Luther had to make a choice: continue blindly following along with the way things had always been done or listen to Jesus’ words about God’s grace for all.

You and I today have to make a choice: go through our days with haste and frustrating determination or let our Lord care for us with healing and compassion, open our eyes and help us see the wonders of God’s love.

Take some time today to stop and thank God for the grace that is yours. Think about others whom you think might be outside God’s grace – and then think again. SURPRISE! God’s love is all inclusive. If you’re having trouble accepting that, ask the Lord to touch your heart so you can fully accept each person as God’s own child – including yourself.