More Than a Single Surprise

I stared at the cars lining my driveway. What in the world is going on? 

Walking the familiar path to the patio, I caught a glimpse of something colorful waving in the breeze. Suddenly people began popping up from behind shrubs and lawn furniture.  

"Surprise! It's a single girl shower!" 

What? A single girl shower? I looked at the faces of friends beaming at me through crepe paper streamers. 

A single girl shower? And then I remembered a conversation weeks earlier at a basketball game. We'd started talking about an upcoming bridal shower. "Yeah, you married people make out like bandits at those things," I had said, only half joking. "I have friends who could change the sheets every day for a month without doing laundry!" 

I recalled the day I helped a married friend organize her kitchen. We had discovered two crock pots in unopened boxes, a spare toaster, extra dinnerware, and enough towels to circle their house. I concluded my story by saying that eight years out of college, and without the benefit of a bridal shower, I was still without many of the items of which my married friends had multiples. With that, our conversation shifted topics again, and by the time I left the game I had forgotten all about it. 

Obviously my friends had not forgotten. And so I found myself guest of honor at a surprise single girl shower. Friend after friend offered their gifts. By evening's end I sat in a pile of wrapping paper and bows, surrounded by love disguised as towels, sheets, salad bowls, skillet, and teapot. 

“I’m overwhelmed,” I said, looking around the room at my friends. 

“Kim, we wanted to bless you with these gifts, that’s for sure. But we also want you to know that you’re so valuable to us, whether you’re married or not. We love you for you. These gifts are an expression of our love for you. Just you.” 

The memories of my single girl shower are so vivid that it’s hard for me to believe that nearly three decades have passed. The gifts have seen better days. I'm still single. But unweathered by time is a far greater treasure: the memory of a special evening filled with much more than a single surprise. 

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other (Romans 12:10 NLT).