The Birthday Surprise

by Jane W.


It was my husband Harry's birthday a few weeks ago. We had planned to travel to Portland, Oregon on a business trip together that day and then travel onwards for a "little holiday." Then, our "little holiday" grew two weeks prior to his birthday to an 8 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise leaving from Los Angeles. This was a "first" for us, so needless to say we were very excited about going on a cruise. Plans were made for us to fly from Portland, when the conference ended, to meet the ship at the Los Angeles dock. The morning of Harry's birthday was a frenzy of activity as we were both going to our respective places of work that day. Our plans were to leave at 4 pm later that day to drive from our home in Abbotsford, across the U.S. border, down to Oregon.

At 10 a.m I got a phone call from my husband. The local police department had phoned him at his office to say that that they were in possession of his briefcase. They had found his business card in the briefcase. It had been found at the park close by the police station. This could only mean one thing. Our house had been broken into.

When we arrived home, we discovered several things had been stolen. There is always the sense of violation that comes with a robbery. There were sentimental items stolen which all the insurance money in the world cannot replace. That day however, our most important documents, needed for the trip that day, were our passports. Harry had put those in the briefcase the night before.

That afternoon Harry went to the police station to pick up the briefcase. This is where we believe the miracle happened. They were still in the briefcase. We could still go on our trip. Otherwise we would have had to cancel everything.

Was it a kind thief who saw we were going on a trip and chose to leave the briefcase in a visible place by the police station? Or was it God's sovereign grace showing us that He is still in control even when things seem to go wrong? I choose to believe the latter.

The cruise was amazing. However, beyond the great experience of a holiday like that, the most wonderful thing that happened was that due to a series of circumstances, we met a Christian crew member who needed prayer. We had the privilege of praying for our brother in the Lord on the staff of that ship, with some other Christians we had met during the course of the week.

We make our plans but then the Lord guides us in His perfect path as He says in Proverbs 3:5 : "Commit your ways to the LORD and He shall direct your path."

Nothing is a surprise to God!