Failed Expectations

Joshua flushed ice cubes down the toilet.
He went outside barefoot.
He walked down the stairs backwards.
He wore his pajamas backwards.
Though I have no eyewitness confirmations, I am told he even had his boxers on backwards.
The weatherman said it was going to snow, and Joshua wanted to do everything he could to assure school would be cancelled the next day.

But the next day was not a snow day.
And when I went into Joshua's room to wake him, when he asked, "Is it a snow day today?" and I said, "No," oh - he was mad!
In fact, the stewing he was doing that morning was hotter than the stew I had made for dinner the night before.
Really.
This kid was angry.
I didn't get it. Before Joshua went to bed we told him not to plan on a snow day - that they'd probably be able to have the roads in good condition the next day. We tried to set his expectations correctly.
But it didn't matter. Joshua had his mind made up that there would be no school, and now nothing I said was going to put him into a better mood. He stomped around the house, grumbled about school being "stupid," even updated his Facebook status to let the world know that he was mad because it wasn't a snow day. He was a piece of work that morning.

I felt sorry for my son. It hurt to see him so upset about something which really was not important. I wanted to be able to formulate articulate words of wisdom which would penetrate his heart and help him distinguish between that which matters and that which does not.
And then I realized something.

This battle with failed expectations is not my son's, alone.

How many times have I, myself, gotten upset over something that I thought would go one way, but ended up going another? And at the failure of my expectations, how many times have I stomped and stewed and called things "stupid"? Oh, I am a piece of work, too!
Do you know what I'm talking about?

But the grace of God is big enough to cover our childish fits. It's big enough to carry us through our disappointments. God can handle that which makes us sad. And we can trust Him.
Whether tomorrow is a snow day, or not; whether the economy turns, or it doesn't; whether you can fit into those jeans, or you can't; God will be the same.
Yesterday, today and forever. God will never change.

And that is one expectation which will never fail!

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I wrote this post a few weeks ago. And the kids have since had a snow day. All is well! *grin*