When I grow up..

Life is a crazy thing and I am so excited about it. I just returned from a relationship seminar at church. We had special speakers John and Helen Burns- they are not only wise but also completely hilarious! I have actually heard Helen speak before- she was a speaker at one of the wonderful RVC chick nights last year. Tonight her husband said something that really resonated with me. He said expectations are the fuel of life- when you’re full of expectations you are full of life! He used the illustration of when you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up? They shoot for the stars with their answers! They have so many expectations for life- so many dreams. He then went on to say disappointment is an unmet expectation, and the truth is that in life we are going to have disappointments. The key is to know how to deal with disappointment in a way that allows you to continue living with expectations, to continue dreaming. He was referring to relationships (obviously, at a relationship seminar) but I think that is such a key thought for living life. It would be a lot easier to quit having expectations and to stop “reaching for the stars” after going through a few difficult times- let me tell ya, it sure would be a lot easier living life within my comfort zone! If I stopped having such high expectations from life I definitely would have a lot less to live up to and a lot less responsibility on my shoulders. -But what a sad life, mediocre at its best. A life full of expectations is a passionate life- the kind of life I think Christ called us to live. It was kind of encouraging this week when a girl at school asked, “ok, so lets say money and talent aside, what would you do if you could do anything, absolutely anything in the world, with your life?” I smiled when I thought about how I am really working towards what I truly want to do with my life! (Ok maybe besides the secret desire tucked way deep in my heart to be a singer/ballerina.. but we won’t go there today..) Little by little I am making steps towards realizing my dreams (and creating new ones along the way!) Tonight John gave us steps for dealing with disappointments within our relationships because when you do so correctly you are repairing that disappointment and releasing yourselves (as a couple) to expect again. I think in our personal lives its kind of similar to how we need to have a discussion with God when we’re feeling hurt or discouraged. Let’s not stay discouraged, but instead repair that hurt and continue dreaming! Just think of how we could change our worlds ☺

PS- We have the seminar on cds at church so if anybody is interested in learning more let me know and I could send one your way ! It was all pretty simple, but very insightful- aand they were hilarious.