others say "look at those extremely blessed individuals!!!!!!"
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| 8 month old balloon stuffed with a skunk toy and Ben's breath. One of those things is preserving this balloon........we don't want to know which. |
Inside of this balloon lives the tail end of a stuffed skunk dog toy. Last fall, 4 friends (Katherine, Allie, Katie, and Jed) spent an entire Sunday afternoon and evening filling over 500 balloons with air and stuffing them in giant trash bags. The next day, while a certain someone (Paul) worked a long shift at his perfectly respectable job, these friends filled this someone's bedroom with balloons. They may have also strategically placed video cameras throughout the room to record his reaction to the surprise.
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| Our home filled with balloons.....4 chick flicks later. |
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| Let's just say that moving 25+ bags of balloons across town in the Kansas wind is kind of like herding cats in a tornado. Also, this took about 4 trips in 4 cars. |
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| Stuffing Paul's room full of balloons. |
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| Paul's room - FULL OF BALLOONS! (Note the sneaky camer a in the window on the right.) |
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| Paul gets home.... |
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| the balloons spill out..... |
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| fill the living room..... |
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| and Paul takes balloon pictures. |
Unfortunately, I don't have the video footage of Paul's reaction to share with you, but let me sum it up: disappointing. Maybe not so much disappointing, I suppose, but rather not at all what we expected.
If Allie, Katherine, Kang, and I had come home to one of our rooms full of balloons, it would have sounded like this: "AHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHH! Hahahahahahahahahahaha! No freaking way! What?!?!?!?! Who did...?!?!?! No way, guys, really!?!??! THIS IS AWESOME! AHHHHH!" Basically, a ton of screaming, laughing, and "I'm gonna pee my pants!" kind of reactions.
Paul was all like: "Oh....wow. Look what you guys did........huh.......yep..........those are balloons........oh, yep.....loook.........a camera.......Funny, guys, really funny."
Needless to say, not the reaction we were expecting.
I think we were mostly expecting more because of the amount of excitement, time, and energy that went in to pulling this thing off. I think it's a lot like the plans that God has been making for our lives. Since the very beginning, God has been laying out a plan, setting things in motion for our walk with Him. When he threw those stars in the sky, he was thinking of the joy it would bring you, of how we would look up at the night sky with wonder and marvel at His awesome creation. The specific plans that he has for YOU. And then I can't help but think about His holy anticipation for your reaction. Just like we wanted Paul to react a certain way with the balloons, how does the Lord want us to react to the hiccups, surprises, and winding roads of life?
Scripture tells us to lean not on our own understanding of life, but to trust God with everything and He will make our paths straight. We should be "transformed by the renewing of our minds" so that we may "attest and approve God's good, pleasing, and perfect will" Romans 12:2. He guides us in truth, and leads us through His perfect will! How awesome is that? I'm not comparing God's will for our life to a silly prank, but I am saying that the way we react to what God is walking with us through is SO IMPORTANT.
I want to glorify God for the great things that happen, and the devastating ones. In heart break or when my heart is overflowing with JOY I want to praise Him. I want to seek His understanding with all of my life, that I might see even a glimpse of His master plan. I desire that my reactions to how God is working in my life would bring others closer to an understanding of His character.
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