Expectations
On Tuesday Ray, Mother, and I arrived for a visit with our son John, his wife Audra, and their son Henry. Throughout our visit, sixteen-month-old Henry has been saying words and making sounds that have thrilled his doting grandparents. We have been excited after every “car,” Mama and Dada,” “moo,” and “vroom-vroom.”
Yesterday Henry and I decorated a green paper tree with Christmas stickers and I hung it on the refrigerator with magnets. As Henry moved the magnets around last night, he said, “A . . B . . . C . . .” We were thrilled.
On Tuesday evening one of the cats was making long, loud sounds. I asked John and Audra what the cat was saying. From his high chair Henry delighted us all by answering, “Meow.”
Our plan has been to drive back to Tennessee this morning. We had heard that ice and snow might be coming, so we had been diligently checking weather forecasts for here in Missouri and for back home. However, we failed to check the forecasts for the places in between.
I remember very few details from my literature studies in high school and college, but I often think about one stanza from the poem “To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough” by Robert Burns:
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an ‘men
Gang aft agley,
An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
The weather between Missouri and Tennessee may mean that our best-laid schemes gang aft agley. In other words, what we expected to happen may not happen. The nice thing for us is that, if we have to stay in Missouri a little while longer, it will bring us joy, not grief and pain.
The poem speaks of “promis’d joy.” Another way to say “promis’d joy” is expectations. Dealing with expectations is one of life’s challenges. Expectations often get us in trouble.
When our sixteen-month-old meets our expectations of saying several words in his cute little way, we are happy. When our ten year old is a year or two behind where we believe he should be academically, we may not be so happy. When our sixteen-year-old isn’t quite ready to take on the responsibility of driving, he’s not likely to be very happy because that is not what he expected.
When we expect someone to express gratitude for something we have done for them and they fail to do so, we might be hurt. When we think we are going home on Friday and we can’t get home until later, we might be frustrated.
Expectations often lead to ingratitude. How much better it is simply to be thankful for the gifts God gives me today.
Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
Psalm 30:4, NASB
Wise words, Charlene. Unmet expectations (in whatever area of our lives) can lead to frustration and disappointment. It’s so much better to simply be thankful for what we get than complain about what we did not!