Is Your Name on the Naughty List

This is my third day as a Growing In Unity Gal... and I want to thank all of you who have been visiting my blog and leaving comments. I really do appreciate you! And I'm looking forward to find out out which two commenters will win the prize at the end of the week. Remember, there are two sets of  25 Randomly Selected Unity Stamps that will be given away... so keep those comments coming so you have a chance of winning.


Normally on Wednesdays I give a Mid-Week Joy Report on my blog. This week I'll keep it brief. It definitely is a great week - of course! Since I'm a Growing In Unity Gal... it would have to be great, right?

I've also been busy making cards and getting blog posts together and such, because I'll be gone all week next week. I'm going on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. I'm very excited about that.

I've made 16 cards in the past 7 days.

Wednesdays are also the day that I've chosen for a personal challenge this year. Late last year I purchased a little book at the thrift store entitled 50 Truths Worth Knowing. I hadn't read the book but I determined that I was going to read one of the very short chapters (they're normally no more than 2-3 pages long) and use that story as my inspiration for the day's card.

I considered not doing that this week, since I'm a Growing In Unity Gal, but then I decided I would... after all, I could use a Unity stamp for the card, so it would be okay.

The truth is I love Unity stamps so much that I really didn't fear that I wouldn't have a Unity stamp that would be appropriate... my collection of Unity stamps is vast.

And remember, this week, I've chosen only to use stamps that have not yet seen ink. Today is no exception.

So.... on to the story.

A True Surprise Is a Rare Gift

Chapter 28

Brian has been known to frustrate his wife. He doesn't mean to do it. But it happens. Every Christmas, birthday, anniversary, really any gift-giving occasion... his wife Jen asks him to guess what's in his present. And every time - every. single. time - he guesses correctly, completely spoiling her surprise and the gift-giving moment.

"Why do you always do that?" she asks.

Brian finds it strangely pleasurable that he has this uncanny ability to guess correctly. He says that is why it was so frustrating to him when they were expecting their first child and Jen didn't want to know the gender ahead of time. He wanted to know. But no matter how he tried to convince her, she remained steadfast in her desire for a surprise at delivery.

Strangely perhaps, once Jen went into labor, Brian no longer thought about whether the baby was a boy or a girl. Even though he'd wondered and wondered, in these moments his focus was elsewhere. Then when the time came to deliver, the anxiety returned and the waiting for the reveal once again overtook him.

"It's a boy!" the doctor proclaimed. Brian was overcome with emotion.

Brian says he "learned at that moment that true surprise is so rare, so special, that it needs to be embraced at every opportunity."

He doesn't say whether he guessed what he was getting the next Christmas or not, but I suspect the guessing no longer held the same appeal for him that it once had.


I decided the Unity Stamp Set Naughty, Nice, Not Sure seemed appropriate for this story...

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
Don't forget to leave a comment so you have a chance to win the prize!


Supplies Used

Image/Sentiment: Unity Naughty Nice, Not Sure stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Recollections Black and White and Stampin' UP! Real Red CS and DP from the Recollections Stocking Stuffer Paper Pad

Embellishments: Greenbrier International Sparkle Dots and Stickles Glitter Glue