SURPRISE!!

Recently, it was our Pastor's wife's birthday. Several of us ladies at church got our heads together and devised a plan! We decided that she needed a little excitement in her life, whether she knew it or not!! Since our Pastor was in Haiti, on a mission trip, the deacons wives were going to take Mrs. Shihady out to dinner for her birthday. That trip out to dinner proved just the ticket that we needed to lure her to Panera Bread "for dessert". We called through the church ladies and let everyone know that we were meeting at Panera Bread by 6:45 and then Mrs. Shihady would be coming with the Deacons wives at 7 pm. The Lord worked it out perfectly and even though the "community room" was taken, when I arrived early, there was a whole section of the restaraunt that was empty! I had brought along some table decorations and was able to set them out reserving just the amount of tables and chairs that we needed until folks began to arrive. Also, in the week previous, we had been taking up a secret collection to get her a very LARGE gift card to a local specialty store that she likes. That in itself was a fun time for me! It was such fun to be able to give a gift to her for such an abundant amount that we know she would never spend on herself!! I won't tell you the exact amount, but I will say it resulted in multiples of one hundred! Praise the Lord!! Everyone was sooo generous!!
It worked out perfectly. She had NO CLUE what was going on. Thanks to a great job by the deacons wives she arrived at Panera Bread without a hitch! We were all pleased and taken back by the great turnout of ladies...25+ ladies came out to be a part of the surprise!
As she walked in the door, we all sang out the "Happy Birthday!" song to her. What a fun time!
Mrs. Shihady is such a blessing to all of us! Which is one of the reasons that we all enjoyed spoiling her on her birthday!! She gives of herself to minister to us! She loves us and prays for us, and challenges us to be obedient to the Lord. Boy howdy! Do I ever need that!! She is a wonderful example of a woman who is seeking to love and serve the Lord as a true christian.
Thank the Lord for a great woman of God!