because God's in the surprising business | Huntsville AL family photographer

I have had one surprise birthday party in my life. I was turning 12, and I thought I was just going to a friend’s house to spend the night. Part of our evening was going to consist of going ice skating, which we did.

But when we arrived to the ice rink, there were lots more friends there who’d come out to celebrate with me. It was a fun night, more than I’d planned on for sure!

According to my beloved life planner, these days were going to look a whole lot different than they are turning out to look.

There were trips and opportunities long waited for.

Soccer tournaments and piano recitals.

Our family in particular is coming up on the one year anniversary of living in our new town and being a part of a new church family. We were going to share our first Easter together.

It’s crazy to think that for some of these things, we will need to actually be here for two years to experience them for the first time.

It’s taken me a little while to get here, but I’m starting to ask this question:

How will this day end up surprising me in a good way?

I feel the disappointment of the things we’ve missed out on. And to be honest, I fight that disappointment every day.

But when I think of Easter approaching in just a few days, I think that the Lord is constantly in the business of surprising people. His plans are for sure not our plans; they never have been.

And my calendar is a facade that leads me to believe I hold more control than I ever actually do.

So I try to ask myself at the end of these wacky, calendar-upending days, What happened today that would not have happened had life been “normal?”

It’s basically a way to ask how God might be surprising me.

One day it was getting to watch my 6-year-old learn how to tell time on an analog clock for the very first time.

One day it was hosting an impromptu family ping pong tournament right after lunch on a weekday, just because we could. (I won’t say who won, but I will say I did not come in last place.)

Lots of days it’s taking that extra walk after dinner right at sunset (my favorite) on a night we’d normally be shuttling kids to and from soccer practice.

The question of what might surprise me in a good way takes my control-laced plans and shows me something else.

I am still not awesome at maintaining this perspective. I often want to go to that place of “we were supposed to be here or here” on this day.

But when I feel it creeping in, I name it. Then I give it back to the Lord.

I tell Him I’m disappointed and ask him to redeem it into something surprising.

The truth of Easter tells me He’s fully capable of doing just that.

And now, here is a family session from this past fall from some of my favorites. Enjoy!

And if you’d like to go ahead and book your family’s session this fall, you can get started here!