Pranked!

I was tired after a long day teaching at the women's retreat. It was after 10:00pm when I finally delivered the last person to their rooms, parked my car back on the bottom parking lot and hiked back up the hill. It was raining hard and I shrugged into my Fire Department raincoat for the hike back up the hill thankful for the protection it offered.

Walking in pro the room, I was surprised to walk into a dark room. How had I beat everyone else back? And then I heard the giggles. Turning on one small light I saw there as a long balloon tied from the shower door to the bathroom door in front of me. Carefully bending under it in case there were any booby traps, I heard a laughing voice tell me to turn on the lights. As I searched for the switches in a dark room, I could hear multiple giggles and whispers. Finally finding the switches, I tried to focus as the room sprang into full light. There were balloons everywhere. Balloons with faces, balloons that were lit up ... Lots and lots of balloons. Laughing I kept looking around the room trying to take it all in.

And then I saw my bed .... Completely shrink wrapped. Pillow, bedding everything nice and tidy under layers of celephane. By then the guilty culprits were laughing so hard, I knew who was involved .... Everyone! Grabbing a long balloon off my bed, I bent it in a circle and went after the guilty as they laughed and ducked for cover. After some judicious bops for each of them, I turned back to my bed. Feeling the tension of the celephane I finally flopped down on top of it all and remarked how nice and comfy it was. But finally, I got up and began to unwrap my bed. That is when I discovered there were layers to the shrink wrap. The next layer down had lots of colored feathers, so when you pulled the celephane off the feathers poofed up in the air. Laughing, I deposited them on the heads of the guilty and continued to unwrap my bed. The bottom layer had more balloons and squirrels! Two stuffed squirrels were found in my pillow and sleeping bag. I carefully tucked them in for the night as we talked and laughed.

40 minutes later as I was finally preparing for bed, my heart was full of love and laughter. I loved the prank and it let me know I was loved and cared for. I told them that in my family growing up, teasing was a love language.

I am so grateful for these women, for their love and support and their generous hearts. It has been such a privilege to journey with them. They add so much to my life in so many ways. What a joy it has been to watch them learn and grow and step into ministry and leadership. I am excited for the journey we have ahead for all of us.

And besides ... I am now plotting how I can get even with them ...this should be fun!

Just Connie