Balancing Reality with Expectation.

The key struggle? To do it with grace.

Honestly, as mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, and friends, we all have expectations. We expect our children to wake up at a certain time in the morning, we expect our husbands to come home at a certain time in the evening, we expect a certain holiday to go a certain way, we expect our mother’s advice to work out perfectly, we expect a meal to taste a certain way, a date night to go well, and the list goes on and on.

We even have expectations as daughters of God, although we may not fully realize it. Don’t we expect our prayers to be answered a certain way? If God loves us, He must have our future planned out exactly as we are expecting, right?

Expectations are not a bad thing, really. The problem comes when reality does not meet our expectations, and that’s when we must make a decision. Many times the decision we make is subconscious: do we handle the situation with grace? Does it change our demeanor for the worse, and make the rest of the day, weekend, holiday, date night go bad?

For me, this is a lesson I’m slowly learning. To handle the reality of an expectation with grace. I have little eyes watching and a family to love. I’ve heard so many times that a mother sets the tone of the home, and that’s honestly a big responsibility that the Lord has given us. It honestly helps to handle the reality with grace by making the subconscious thought, conscious. CHOOSING to let the expectation go and embrace the reality. CHOOSING to lower those expectations in the first place and letting GOD create the expectations. CHOOSING to handle reality with grace and choosing joy no matter the situation.

I’ve learned that the lower my expectations are, the less disappointed I can be. If I do not expect my husband home from work at a certain time, I am pleasantly surprised when he rolls in the door. If I do not expect my child to sleep in, to sleep through the night, to eat a certain food, I find myself giving more grace in each moment, and getting frustrated less.

The truth is, we really do not control much at all. The past year alone has taught us that. Expectations robs the Lord of the joy He gives us, and our trust in Him. Let’s let Him write our days, and plan our moments.

XOXO

Tami