advent journal: caught by surprise

My plan for this evening was to write my blog post. Ginger was finishing her sermon for Sunday. The two of us were at a coffee shop in Branford, the town next to us. About seven, she said she was hungry and suggested we pick up a gift certificate we had at home for a restaurant across the town green from our house. When we pulled in the driveway, we both noticed the lights on in the barn. “You get the lights and I’ll grab the gift certificate and meet you back here at the car,” she said. I opened the barn door and found this:

Needless to say, I didn’t write tonight because love caught me by surprise. Our friends here in town threw a birthday party for me in our barn. (My birthday—my sixtieth birthday—is Monday.) Even in Guilford, Connecticut, it seems love surprises you by showing up in the barn. Gloria in excelsis de0.

Peace,
Milton