Inasmuch As Ye Have Done it Unto one of These...

A few years ago, I turned 40. It was one of the hardest years of my life. I had 11 floods in my home in a two year time which took some remolding to kitchen, two bathrooms, several times in my laundry room, a storage room and my family room. I got some weird biting bird mites that we finally got rid of after a year. My mother almost died and I spent 4 months in ICU, Rehab hospitals and nursing homes nursing her back to health.That combined with the stresses of being a single mom of five and court issues with the ex along with service to my church, I gained lots of weight and was burnt out.



My oldest and youngest sister did something I will never forget. They threw me the surprise party of surprise parties. I couldn't have been more surprised. If I had known, I would have gotten dressed up, put on some makeup and done my hair. lol As it was, it was all people I loved and they didn't care what I looked like.


My youngest sister found and brought a dunking booth to represent the flooding in my life. They set up a "wedding ring toss" where they had a ring toss game. They had a toilet paper roll toss into a real toilet to represent the bathroom remodels. They set up a fortune telling booth in which my mother played the part of the fortune teller representing a dream I had about her almost dieing and the four months I spent helping her heal. They set up a dance canopy to represent the singles dance club I go to on the weekend sometimes. They had a puppet show depicting my last year of life in a humorous way.


They rented a cotton candy machine, a popcorn machine, a snow cone machine and bar-b-cued. They had fortune cookies at the fortune telling booth. They had face painting representing how I had kept smiling through the year regardless of the trials. They had a dart game and about 5 other carnival games all to do with my life that year. The also rented a bounce house to represent all the "ups and downs" of my life that year.


One of my favorite games was a suggestion game called, "Rub a dub dub, Three men in a tub, a doctor, a baker and a home maker, Which should her husband be?" They made copies of the poem and left blanks for people to make their guess and suggestions. There were some funny answers. One said, "Why choose, date them all."



My sister slyly got into my email account and invited everyone in my address book. She got my kids to distract me taking me to the mall to build-a-bear to make me a stuffed monkey. They then took me roller skating and then back to the house where everyone was waiting to yell surprise in the back yard. I really had no idea. She had friends I have known since Jr. High school show up. It was a wonderful beginning to a bright new year leaving the trouble of the past year behind.


My youngest sister made a scrap book for the event and had all the guest write thing to me in it and someone followed me around the whole night taking pictures of me with each person that came so I would have the comments they wrote and a picture of me with each person.


Even to this moment when I think about how much effort and time went into making that event happen, I am overwhelmed with the love and support of my family and friends. So many made long drives to be there to support me knowing what type of year I had.



How blessed am I? I pray that each of you have someone so loving and kind in your lives. I also pray that I can learn from their example and "Do unto others as has been done to me!!"


Life is a circus. It has its ups and downs. I pray we can learn and enjoy both the ups and the downs. May you have more ups than downs!


Thank you Heavenly Father for sending me some AMAZING sisters in an amazing family!