When we least expect it, great things manifest

Be ready to be surprised. ~Loesje Surprise is one of life's simple pleasures. The simple fact that we are not expecting it adds to the joy and excitement when good things happen in our lives. Surprises don't have to be big to be exciting. Take this little melon, for example. It's nothing fantastic and you might be wondering why I have its picture here. The answer is simple. It was a surprise. I didn't plant melons. At least, I didn't think I did. I was checking my cucumbers when suddenly I discovered this delightful little melon snuggled in the corner of my raised bed. My daughter and her friends started seeds in the greenhouse at school this spring and gave me some seedlings. It was labeled cucumbers and we assumed it was correct. I did notice the leaves were a bit unusual, but thought it was just a new cultivar and gave it no further thought. They must have planted melons, but it came as a great surprise, even to them. When we practice living with an attitude of gratitude, life hands us pleasant surprises that we would never expect. Just like I nurtured and cultivated the melon plant without ever guessing the fruit it would produce, our positive thoughts and gratitude are cultivating fruit that we may never expect. Be ready for pleasant surprises in areas you never expected. Today, I am grateful for the drone of the skidder in the distance as it provides honest work for a hardworking soul. I am grateful for the cicada that punctuates the silence. I am grateful for the dancing of flowers as they celebrate the early morning dew. I am grateful for photographs and memories that last a lifetime -- for laughter and excitement frozen in time on film. I am grateful to teenagers and college students ready to meet the world and make it a better place. I am grateful for family, for friends and for my God that watches over us all. And, I am grateful for you, dear reader, as you stop to share my day. May your life be filled with pleasant surprises -- the fruit of living with an attitude of gratitude.