Who hasn’t had them? Holiday expectations blown through the roof? This year was no exception for me and my family.
We planned an early Christmas & Thanksgiving celebration since my son is headed to Marine boot camp before Christmas. My family planned to come and help us celebrate. Then my mom couldn’t make it due to health.
Well, at that point, I was about to throw in the towel (yeah, can you believe that’s all it took?). Because Mom wasn’t coming, one of my sisters decided not to drive and opted to fly instead. Of course, airline delays brought her in a day later than planned.
My daughter got sick and I alerted everyone in case they wanted to back out of the event. At this point, most of my expectations were shot and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was up to a houseful of guests.
But everyone besides my mother decided to come. My nephew, his wife and 6 kids planned to stayed at my house while everyone else bunked at a nearby hotel.
So, I plunged into the celebration even though my nerves were a bit overwhelmed with the extra noise. I didn’t head into with the best of attitude, but what I received made it worthwhile.
I was so blessed by my extra noise makers! These 5 children (and an infant) exhibited such joy and were kind to everyone in the house. I truly did see Jesus in them. It was a blessing to watch their parents in action. I could not imagine them not being here!
I got to spend time with my sisters and a second nephew whom I haven’t seen in a year.
My son and his girlfriend hung out with us ALL day!
We laughed our way through a white elephant gift exchange and showered my son with blessings and prayers.
It some ways it turned out better than expected.
If I had given up, I would have missed it all! That’s how it often is. Some of the dearest blessings come when expectations are thrown upside down and we press on anyway.
Have you ever experienced the blessing of topsy turvy expectations?
photo credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net // debspoons
I had that same experience at Thanksgiving! I grumbled about some last minute guests that I didn't know, who a friend got my permission to invite, but in the end they ended up being fantastic people who showed such gratitude that I felt very humbled.
I'm glad it worked out into a good experience for you!