With great expectations can sometimes come great disappointment

There is a slight chance...from time to time....every once in awhile... I can be guilty of what I would like to call the "Clark Griswold" complex. Clark Griswold is of course the main character in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. A character flaw that Clark has is his expectations. Clark doesn't just set high expectations- he boards a rocket (probably coated in a non-nuclear semi-permeable cereal varnish), blasts off towards space, and plants his flag right before he leaves orbit. There is no way any event or person can possibly live up to the expectations he sets.

Are there high expectations in there or a rabid squirrel?

I consider this a character flaw because when you set high expectations for everything you do or everything you are a part of- you will spend a lot of time being disappointed.

A recent example of this was a date Becca and I went on. We had found someone to watch our two boys and we had found someone to watch Brianna. We had a chance to get ready for our date and we were heading off to a new restaurant. Like I usually do, I was trying to figure out what kind of food sounded good to me on our way over there. We arrived at the restaurant to a PACKED parking lot. I'm talking Black Friday morning shopping PACKED. We eventually found a place to park and went in. The wait to eat? 90 minutes. What kind of place that is a sports bar has a 90 minute wait? Instead of being a rational adult and going to the next restaurant, I pouted. I wanted to eat THERE! That was the place I wanted to go. My expectation was to get a table in 15 minutes, have a nice cold beer, and a relaxing dinner with my wife.....on a Friday......during the busiest time of the evening....in a sports bar. See what's wrong with that picture? No WAY was anything there going to be relaxing or quick, but that didn't change my expectations.

I'm not saying today that it isn't good to have high expectations, BUT what I am saying is-it's good to check and see if your high expectations are also realistic ones! 

And this is the big question I am getting at today-

How often do you examine the expectations you have for yourself? For an event? For a class? 

If you expect yourself to get an A in every math class you have but you are BAD at math and don't like it, maybe an A isn't the best expectation to have.

I also feel that a lot of time these unrealistic expectations creep into our spiritual lives.

A sermon illustration I heard growing up still sticks with me to this day. It goes like this.

A man is in an area being ravaged by a hurricane and he begins praying for God to save him. The flood waters beginning rising in his area. A person comes by in their car and asks him if he wants a ride to safety- he declines. The water now is in the first story of his house. A person comes by on a boat to rescue him. He again says NO, I'm waiting for God to save me. Finally, the water is up his roof. A helicopter flies over and they ask if they can rescue him. Again the man declines and he drowns. In Heaven, he asks God why God didn't come to save him. God responds by saying, why didn't you take the car, the boat, or the helicopter?

The reality is, God is doing amazing things in our lives. Everyday. Simple, amazing things. The problem is, we don't always realize it. We are waiting for that big lighting bolt or clear sign in the clouds from God. Well, what if God is speaking to us through a friend's encouraging words?  What if God is working with us through the book we are reading? What if God is blessings us with a clear mind so we can at least get a B in that math class?

God is at work everyday. Now though, the work we see that God does is through people. It's through interactions we have for others.

We can expect God to do great things, but we ALSO need to expect to use the gifts God has blessed us with.

Clark Griswold had a crazy family- He was NEVER going to have a perfect family Christmas. It took his whole house getting destroyed for him to realize that instead of praying for perfection- he needed to see the beauty amidst the chaos. 

I challenge you today to look for the blessings in the beautiful chaos that is our lives. Also, make sure to keep a good check on your expectations. If they aren't possibly attainable- bring them back a little bit. Leave more room for God to work instead of you!

Don't forget the green trees

It's FALL! I love fall. I enjoy every year looking at the amazing color pallet that God has assembled. It amazes me every time to see yellow, red, orange, brown, and green leaves dot the landscapes all around us.

One of the plants I always notice this time of year is the bush on the side of my house. It's on the side of my house that I NEVER see, so I have to make a point to go look at it. It's a burning bush. For one month out of every year, it gets these deep red crimson leaves on it. Each time I notice the leaves turning, it always causes me to pause....stop....and look.

Now as I said, the funny thing about this plant is it's really only beautiful for one month. The rest of the year the leaves are green but the branches are brittle and kind of ugly. It's only for a short period of time in the fall that this plant is even one you would notice.

This got me thinking, how much time do we spend chasing things that only make us happy for a short period of time? I'll be completely honest, if this plant didn't grow all on it's own, I wouldn't take the time to care and water it. It REALLY only brings a little bit of happiness for a few weeks. AND the it's on the side of my house- I almost ripped it out of the ground the first year b/c I missed it's "good" month.

In our lives we spend a lot of time pursing and chasing HAPPINESS. The thing with happiness is that it's an emotion. Sometimes our emotions change by the second. We can be happy- excited to eat all the things that have been placed on our lunch tray. Then we trip and our food goes flying everywhere. Our happy lunch just became an embarrassment.

What we really need is something more stable, more permanent. Which brings me to an illustration to think about.

Something that gets lost to me in fall is evergreen trees. While all the other trees around us are changing to all these glorious colors, there are the evergreens. Not dropping anything and just remaining green.

Evergreens might get a bad rap BUT they share some great qualities that God has also.

God is constant. God isn't going to drop us like a leaf. God is going to remain the same, even as everything else seems to change. No matter what our mood, emotion, or day is like- God cares and loves us.

Let that sink in for a second.

No matter your emotion....God loves you.

See the words happiness and joy are different. They may get mixed together a lot, but they have their own personality. One of the definitions of joy that the dictionary gives is- a source or cause for delight.

If we look into the Bible, we even get a deeper meaning of joy. Check out what it says in Psalm 30:5- For his anger lasts only a moment but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes with the morning. And in Nehemiah 8:10- Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

In these two instances we see anger, and grief. But the joy that comes from the Lord overcomes both. 

That is where joy comes from. It is the knowledge that Jesus took away all our sins. We are forgiven. With our belief in Jesus, we are saved. THAT is joy. That is something that lasts, that is unchanging, and that can't be taken away!

So this fall as you look around at all those beautiful trees that will bring you a little bit of happiness- don't forget the evergreens. Don't forget the constant in all our lives. That constant is God. That joy is from God.