"Surprise!!!!"

I found to my surprise today that there are people actually studying the subject of surprise! – what is the behavioural response to surprise and what constitutes a surprise and how to measure it. The article I read was very technical and definitely not in layman’s terms – I didn’t understand most of what they were saying!!
I was amused to find that they have come up with a formula to measure the element of
surprise …

S(D,M) = KL(P(M/D),P(M)) = /Mp(M\D)log P(M\D)/P(M) Dm

(I had to modify the formula somewhat because I did not have all the symbols on my keyboard – but you get the idea…who would have guessed surprises were so complicated!)

I think most of us have managed to enjoy surprises without being aware of the need of a formula!

For my daughter’s 40th birthday this year, my son-in-law put a fair bit of effort into making it special for her. All his planning was based on ‘surprises!’
One of the surprises was that while they were away for the week-end, he had a cleaning lady come in to clean the house. Romay had not been feeling well the prior few weeks and it was a very busy month for her at work so the house work had gotten behind.
(Unknown to Vince, a girl friend had asked Romay what she was really wishing for for her birthday and she had said, “I would really love Vince to hire a cleaning lady and have my house cleaned…. But like THAT”S going to happen!” )

Vince called me not quite sure how to go about arranging the cleaning so I told him to leave it to me.
I found a cleaning lady who could fit a 'one-time' job in her schedule and arranged to let her in.
We came up with a plan - I went ahead of her and straightened up and did some light cleaning and she went through the house doing a thorough cleaning.
Everything looked great when we were done!

When Romay came home and walked in, she was so surprised she burst into tears.
She said it was the best birthday surprise she had ever had!!
I do think Vince, with that one surprise, got enough brownie points to last him the rest of the year!!

Whether we are the planner or the recipient of surprises we never tire of the fun and pleasure they provide – and long after, the memory of the surprise warms our heart and puts a smile on our face!
A surprise always speaks of the love and care and thoughtfullness of the one planning the surprise!

I love the fact that God also loves surprises! He has tucked them everywhere in His creation….for us to find. Man has been finding them for the last six thousand years and we have not found them all yet!!
Some are big and some are small, some are amazing and some make you smile!

I found one today that made me smile!!
I did not discover it myself but someone who did showed it to someone who eventually showed it someone who entered it into the e-mail chain… so perhaps you have already seen it! My brother sent it to me today.

We all know that 100% is a good thing to aim for, but what would 100% look like in terms of life goals? What would get us close to or equal 100%? And what would it take to go over 100%?

Just like someone came up with a mathematical formula to measure surprise, someone stumbled on an entertaining mathematical answer to the above questions.
Though the principles can be found in God's word, just for fun He also hid the answers in the following letter/number relationship.

If you take the letters of the alphabet and assign to them consecutive numerical values 1-26 then the following unfolds,

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

AND!!!

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E-
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

But look what takes you further than 100%

L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Isn’t it true that while knowledge and hard work are good and will serve you well in life…..a good attitude will always ensure 100% success!!
But only the love of God can take you beyond any success this life can offer and give you more than you could ever hope for!!!!

“May the love of God fill 101% of your day!“