Expectations. If I’ve learned anything about them over the years, it’s that it’s better not to have them. And yet, I’ve been getting a lot of questions from people about what I expect to happen or to get out of the World Race.
My women’s bible study recently finished our Easter study. One week we observed the expectations of Jesus’ mother, Mary. Certainly when Mary was told that she would be mother to the Son of God, she probably didn’t expect Him to one day be crucified on a cross.
Some of the questions for our group were:
1. When you were little, what did you dream of being or doing when you grew up?
2. How has your life been different from what you expected?
In retrospect, there was a point in my life when I hated God and I hated people. My dream was to go to college, get a good paying job, and live alone.
What actually happened was God broke my heart at the cross, filling me with love both for Him and for others. I did go to college, sure, but now I’m leaving my job to become a full-time, unpaid, missionary and to spend the next 11 months in deep and authentic community with others with little to no alone time.
Not only is the World Race not what I had expected, it’s the EXACT OPPOSITE of anything I could have ever imagined. God blew my expectations to smithereens.
So what are my expectations of the World Race you ask?
- God will show up.
- I will be surprised.
- I will change.
“Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised.”
-Dan in Real Life
How has your life been different from what you expected? Think back to the things you once wanted when you were younger, how things actually turned out, and the things you want now. What’s changed? Feel free to share in the comments section below or in a private message to me. I’d love to hear YOUR story!
