Wonderful Surprises

Don’t you just love surprises?
I am not talking about surprises that catch you off guard.
Rather surprises that make your day.
Surprises that make you feel special.

I never liked Cracker Jack, the candy coated popcorn.
However, I loved the prizes that were found at the bottom of the box.
Now as a grown woman I can see those prizes for what they were.
However, as a little girl, those prizes were so exciting.

There were stickers, dexterity puzzles, and spinning tops.
There were clickers, charms, whistles, and games.
Each prize was wrapped in paper.
You would open the box and put your hand way down inside to find the prize.

It was a good day if you found something you did not already have in your collection.
It was not a good day when your prize was something you found before.
Cereal boxes also had prizes inside.
Sometimes the prizes were a part of a set, so you had to buy multiple boxes to get all of them.

Although Sailor Jack, a kid in a traditional sailor’s uniform, and his dog, Bingo, still appear on the face of boxes of Cracker Jack (but with an updated look), the packages of candy-coated popcorn no longer contain the sort of physical prize Baby Boomers grew up with. In April 2016, current Cracker Jack brand owner Frito-Lay announced it would no longer include physical prizes in boxes of Cracker Jack, grabbing media attention and prompting headlines like “Cracker Jack Is Getting Rid of the Best Thing About Cracker Jacks” (Fortune) and “Cracker Jack’s Prize In The Box Will Now Be Digitized” (NPR).

Cracker Jack would now include stickers and QR codes good for redeeming a smartphone app – one of four baseball-themed mobile games, as well as a baseball-themed sticker. A fitting choice for Frito-Lay, since Cracker Jack started including baseball-themed prizes in 1914 and has been a perennial presence at ballparks for more than 100 years.
(antiquetrader.com; October 2016)

Now Cracker Jack surprises will be digitized instead of the actual, physical prizes.
It is the end of an era for Cracker Jack; it is a sign of the times.
Surprises still abound in other places.
They happen when and how you least expect them.

It is the pay forward that happens at the toll booth.
It is the unexpected refund check that comes in the mail.
It is the bouquet of flowers you receive for no reason.
It is the note from a friend that you have not seen in years.

It is anything that happens unexpectedly and makes you smile.
It is the moment you want to capture and keep in a jar to look at again and again.
It is brief; it is unexpected.
It is wonderful.

I decorated for spring.
Any vestiges of winter have been put away.
Even the color palette changes and it is a welcome change.
It was one of my new country bunnies that brought me unexpected joy.

I went to my favorite place of Amish buggies and stopped at my favorite store.
It is the store where I find my decorative flags that I hang outside and change all the time.
It is the store where I find my Country Store scented candle.
It is where I happened to see the adorable country bunny.

She was sitting on top of grass in a rusted bucket.
She was wearing a green apron.
She was holding a bunch of carrots.
She had a sweet face with ears that stuck straight up.

I bought her along with two other smaller bunnies who were sitting in washtubs.
The smaller bunnies wore red aprons.
One was holding carrots and the other was holding a sack of flour and a rolling pin.
A Mennonite woman makes the bunnies and actually quilts the squares some are holding.

I got home and unloaded the things I bought that day.
I placed the large bunny on my kitchen island.
I looked at the rusted bucket and saw a wire.
I could not imagine what the wire was for and knew that I had not seen it in the store.

I followed the wire with my finger and noted that it was all through the grass she sat on.
When my finger reached the back of the rusted bucket, I saw a plastic square.
The square had a switch.
I moved the switch with my finger.

I was delighted to see that the rusted bucket was filled with small LED lights.
It was such a wonderful, whimsical surprise.
I now had a country bunny sitting on a rusted bucket with tiny lights throughout.
The surprise made me smile.

The three bunnies are on my Hoosier cabinet.
Every time I look over at the cabinet, I smile.
It was an unexpected surprise.
It caught me off guard in a wonderful way.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. (Acts 2:9)

Surprises await us in heaven.
In Christ, we know that we are given the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come.
Even though we read God’s Word and know His promises, we have not seen Him yet.
When we finally arrive in heaven someday and see the Lord face to face, we will be amazed.

No more sin.
No more tears, or sadness, or pain.
No more sickness, or hunger, or loneliness.
No more death.

We will be surprised by the sheer beauty of heaven.
We will be surprised to see people that we prayed for have arrived ahead of us.
We will be surprised to see that the scars of love on our Savior will be there for all eternity.
We will be wonderfully surprised at all the things God has in store for those who love Him.

After a time of separation, we will be reunited with loved ones.
After a lifetime of waiting, we will finally see our Lord face to face.
We can now see Him with our own eyes.
And we will be wonderful surprised.