Keeping It In

 A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. Proverbs 11:13

I love surprising people. Especially my husband.  There is little that tickles me more than truly shocking him (pleasantly, of course) with a gift.

And I've got a pretty decent track record.

photo credit

Early in our marriage, I hauled an entire weight set up the stairs (one weight at a time, of course) so I could hide it in our spare bedroom closet. I wrapped one 5-pound weight and put it under the Christmas tree. He had NO idea until he opened it.

I went in with his folks a few years ago and bought him a Kindle for Christmas. He was floored when he saw it. He had not even a clue I was considering something like that (it was out of our price range).

But yesterday may just have been one of the best surprises of all. Last Monday, the kids and I went shopping, and I picked out a new version of a computer game I remember him playing several years ago as a Father's Day gift for him. He hadn't asked for it - I just remembered him enjoying it back in the day.

Four days later, he mentioned he was getting bored with his current favorite computer game and wanted to get a different one - the very game I had bought for him. To say I was happy was an understatement. Apparently, I'd bought just what he wanted. And Father's Day was only two days away. I could keep the secret for 48 hours.

But Saturday things got a bit more complicated. He decided he wanted to bid on a copy on Ebay. Fortunately, he lets me do all the ebay stuff, so I had to do some fancy (and sneaky) talking to convince him to wait a couple days before bidding (it IS best to bid closer to the closing date. Right? ;)).

Long story short (if it isn't too late for that LOL), he was surprised when he opened his copy of Civilization V, and I got to tell him the story. Surprise mission accomplished - again :)

Surprising my husband has almost become a tradition around here. But still, it's tough to keep the secret (and Saturday, I have to admit, was the hardest so far).

Too often, when we have great news, we don't want to keep it in, but, for one reason or another, we might have to. And we might have to be tricky to keep that secret.

It's a good thing the best news we could possibly have does not have to be kept under wraps. Jesus Chris, the Son of God, was born, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose again on the third day - and because of it, we can have eternal life.

No need to keep THAT a secret. Tell the world!

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15
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How do you like getting, or giving, surprises? Do you have any fun stories to share? Would love to see them in the comments.


Who have you shared the gospel with?





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Traveling Rough Roads With God's Strength