Great Expectations

With family and the holidays, we all have great expectations on how things are going to turn out. 

This realization hit home with me when we went to the Fort Worth Light Parade the day after Thanksgiving.

Here's the scenario playing out in front of us:  Mom, Dad, Sammy, and Sally were all running late to the light parade.  I'm sure Sally had a bad attitude and didn't want to go... Sammy had to go to the bathroom at the last minute... Dad was nowhere to be found when it was time to go... And Mom was corralling everyone to get out the door.  Parking was a nightmare, so they had to walk a mile or more to the parade.  Now, they were really late.  The Motorcycle Wheelying Elvi have already passed by.  The announcer has said that the parade will start as soon as they can figure out how to get the music to play in the background.  And the crowd is now forced to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" as the background music.  Mom has half of the tickets.  Dad has the other half of the tickets.  Sammy is running away in front of the family, and Sally is being drug by the hand by Mom to keep up with the family.  Dad starts arguing with mom.  Mom starts getting frustrated.  NO ONE is having a good time.  Dad is frantically trying to find their seat as the grand marshal drives down the road to kick off the parade.  Overwhelmed by the whole scene, Mom throws her hands up into the air, finds an usher, and realizes that they are in the completely wrong area - their seats are four blocks in the other direction.  The usher, sensing the stress, walks the family to their seats just in time for the parade to pass by.

Have you ever had one of those holiday "moments"?  One of those moments where everything in your little perfect little "Courier & Ives" Christmas moment goes wrong?  I guarantee Mom thought, "This will be SO MUCH FUN!  We will actually have seats to sit in for the parade.  It's a little pricey but it will be worth it.  We will all enjoy the parade, followed by the tree lighting in Sundance Square.  What a FUN way to kick of the holiday season together as a family!"  Instead they had a "moment."  How DISAPPOINTING!!

I joked about this scenario with the woman sitting next to me.  Over the next 10 or so minutes, we talked about having "great expectations" as a mother and how not to be overly disappointed when things don't go according to your plans.  What a wise woman!

I have tried to remind myself to not have these types of great expectations when it comes to Christmas events this season.  I know deep in the back of my mind not everything is going to go as planned. 

Well, it happened...we had our "moment"!

I have been dying, DYING to take Wade to visit Santa.  You know, the Broadway Square Mall Santa wasn't going to be "good enough" for Wade's FIRST trip to see Santa.  I had planned and worked and talked about how we were going to see a good Santa, like the North Park Santa or Downtown Neiman-Marcus Santa.  But somehow, with all the planning and discussing and crazy schedules, it NEVER worked out.  (God was preparing me for what was to come.)

I finally realized that it wasn't going to work out this year (Wade seeing a really good Santa) and conceded to the fact that the Broadway Square Mall Santa was going to have to do.  My mom and I ran errands one afternoon and went to the mall.  We thought about taking Wade to see Santa, but Santa was on break and the line was growing by the second.  "Nope, we will try it again at a later date," I said to my mom, since Wade was already maxing out on time in the stroller. 

At the last minute, my mom got all 5 of us tickets to Santa Breakfast at Pollard Methodist (this is the church where the preschool is housed that my mom works for).  We thought that this would be a GREAT introduction to Santa... small setting, one-on-one, no overwhelming mall sights and sounds.  PERFECT... right!?!  We got there right as it started and headed straight to see Santa.q  We waited our turn, talked Santa up BIG time, and were ready to go.

Until it was our turn.  I attempted to pass Wade off to Santa and the biggest Wade Reinhardt meltdown of all times occurred.  He hung onto me like we were about to jump out of an airplane.  Bless his heart!

Our first picture attempt

Oh, now we are really sad!

And now, time with Santa must end.

We decided to take a break, regroup, eat some breakfast, get happy, and watch some other kids talk to Santa.

We got our little man happy again.  He seemed to be interested in Santa.  So on our second attempt, we decided to go in as a group, join forces to see Santa.

Much to my dismay, NOTHING seemed to work when it came to a stranger in a big red suit and a white wig and beard.  NOTHING.

All this to say, I am THANKFUL that we didn't wait in line hours to see a "special" Santa at a "special" store.  How much of a "holiday moment" would have occurred then!?!  My great expectations would have turned into major disappointment.  God saved me from my own expectations this time. 

Why do we do this? Set ourselves up for things to happen, have these great expectations? I guess as moms, being human and all, we imagine the very best for our families, and we ignore the reality that could occur in those stressful times. 

In a moment such as this, God has laid on my heart that He does the UNEXPECTED!  Jesus was born in a stable and placed in manger.  Most thought Christ would come as a king, not as a baby to a regular family, and definitely not born in a place where animals lived.  Unexpected.  Shepherds, the lowliest people at that time, were the first to meet Jesus.  Shepherds, why shepherds?  Again, the unexpected.  God sent Christ to save ALL people, no matter what "type" of person or social class you are classified in.  Jesus came to Earth for one reason and one reason only... to save us from our sins.  He died a criminal's death on the cross - unexpected - to save you and me from eternal separation from God.  WOW!  God is a God of the UNEXPECTED!  Be prepared for some unexpected in your life because things don't always go according to our human plans.  God's plan is much bigger, better, and definitely UNEXPECTED!!

Merry Christmas from our family to you!  Expect the UNEXPECTED!