Expectations

Amy Edmonston

Change is something that takes place in every one's life no matter who you are, where you live, or what you do.  The changes in your life, and how you respond to them, come to be what define you.  I don't usually form expectations of how things will be, simply because life so rarely lives up to them.  Or rather, life so rarely follows our expectations; but it very often exceeds them if you will just open your eyes.

Last year was my second time going to Romania; and despite what I just told you, I had unknowingly formed an expectation for the trip.  And of all the expectations to form, it was a very stupid one.  I expected that things would be, relatively speaking, the same.  I say it was very stupid because people are changing all the time in little ways.  But on top of that, I had quite a few very obvious life changes in the year between trips.  Then the team was different and a number of our friends in Romania  had gone through serious changes as well.  As I said, however, this was a subconscious expectation I had formed.

About midway through the trip I was feeling stressed, confused, and just plain down.  Not the way you're "supposed" to feel on a mission's trip.  It wasn't until after I'd gotten home and had time to think things over that I realized what had happened.

Expectations can steal so much from you.  Now I'm not saying don't make plans or anything, but God began to show me that I need to leave everything in my life open to Him.  Because you never know when He is going to want to teach you something, use you to minister, break you in some way, or just give you a moment of wonder and peace.  I guarantee that you will miss these if you are focused on, and caught up in, making the experience what you want it to be.

I'm really looking forward to this trip in the hope that I can catch God weaving the moments and experiences together in ways I would never have expected.