Anticipation vs Expectation

I try and stay a few weeks ahead on my blog which means that sometimes I'm writing in advance of stuff that's happening to me.  I was thinking about that this morning and thought it might be fun to use this few week gap to perform a little experiment about expectations.  

My husband is taking me some place I've never been before.  It was a fabulous surprise that he will be able to take me along on a business trip.  I talked on the blog a few weeks ago about thanking God for abundantly giving what I asked and this is definitely one of the big, huge things God has done to delight me with adventure.  I've been getting a little caught up in the planning and excitement of it all and that hasn't been sitting well with me today.  

I've been super busy the last month because of my volunteer work with a local convention.  I've been trying to embrace the adventure of it without getting bound up by the stress of my expectations of what should be done.  One of the best parts of embracing the adventure of what God is doing in your life is learning when to let go of your expectations of what you think is supposed to happen.  It's a weird juxtaposition, the embracing and letting go, but it is a truth that many people have discovered over the years.  The truth that letting go of what you expect leaves you free to receive what God is actually bringing.

So here I am, in the moments of anticipation before a grand adventure, and I feel the need to assess my expectations.

Before

Let me just start off by saying my husband is amazing and he is the 2nd best gift God has ever given me and I love him more every day.  He tried so hard to keep this trip a secret but two things happened.  He didn't think he was selected for the trip and so he told me where it was going to be.  Plus, I'm the planner of our relationship and he needed me to take care of the details.  After a month of trying to avoid stress, so I can avoid the physical consequences of stress, this was a huge.  Something to look forward too.  An adventure!  A REAL one!!!  

Yup...did you see that.  A real one.  As if all of the everyday adventure was somehow less.  

That's why I wanted to assess my expectations.  To refocus on my God.  Not to give up the delightful anticipation but to give proper credit.  Not to give up the excitement but to give up unreasonable expectations.  

So what do I expect...

• I expect to see beauty
• I expect to relax
• I expect to have new experiences
• I expect to spend less time in a room than outside

Now one of those I'm putting on myself on purpose.  The others I'm trying to keep pretty mild and sure.  I don't want to put unreasonable expectations on this adventure because the disappointment will rob my moments of the joy that lives there.  The joy placed there by God like gems for me to find on a treasure hunt.  

The danger is always in trying to mold our anticipation into something more than it's supposed to be.  Before my reevaluation today I would honestly have to say my expectations looked more like this.

• See as much as possible
• To look like I belonged with all the other beautiful people
• To have everything perfectly planned
• For nothing to "go wrong"
• For picture perfect moments, Instagram worthy days

Very unreasonable.  Unattainable even.  Which do you think

is going to be a better mindset for an adventure?  Well, lets see shall we?  

My moments may not be picture perfect but I can choose to picture them through the lens of a God who, amazingly, loves to delight me.

Are there areas of your life where expectation has taken over where anticipation should be?  Are you missing out on the joy God has especially planted just for you?  

Join me next week for the, hopefully, exciting conclusion to the exciting before and after!

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