Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:11
My oldest was beyond excited to go to the orthodontist today. He was finally getting his braces off and wanted to make that appointment just as early as he could. I had to calm him down a bit and remind him that it would be much better overall to make it mid-morning instead of early morning so we could walk the pup before leaving.
He relented and allowed me those couple hours, but you’ve never seen a more enthusiastic boy. I mean he had a list of the food he hasn’t been allowed to eat all ready to buy. That boy even planned out what type of gum he wanted to chew. He was focused and determined to do what he had to in order to get that food in front of him. He’d already gotten me to agree to make some chicken buffalo dip to go with those long awaited tortilla chips that were on his list. Being the intuitive mom that I am, I recognized this was quite a big deal to him.
Everything was going along great until something happened two days ago that slowed down his momentum a bit. We were at the orthodontist to get him ready for the retainer he’d need after the braces came off. As soon as I walked into the room with him, he picked up on that never ending conversation, telling me how excited he was for me to make that dip for tortilla chips. When he has an idea, he surely doesn’t give it up too easily. He really makes sure we all stay on the same page as him. Sometimes that works out for him, sometimes not so much.
This is the point where things looked like there could be a hiccup in his plans. The orthodontist looked at him a little funny and said, “Just be sure you don’t break any of those bottom brackets off.” Was this the doctor giving him a hard time or wasn’t he getting all of his braces off? He was a little too stunned to ask. He absolutely knew that all the braces were coming off…didn’t he?
As the day wore on, his enthusiasm kept dimming. He was living in such suspense. Yesterday, the office called to remind us about the appointment that they were sure my son wouldn’t let us forget. The time to have his dreams realized or to throw cold water on his plans came; I asked if they were taking all his braces off or just the top ones. The dreaded result was heard…only the top ones were coming off.
Oh no! How did this misunderstanding happen? The even bigger issue was that I was the one that had to give him the disappointing news! You would’ve thought that everything he worked towards was crashing down around him when I told him. How was this possible?
This was the time we needed to take a deep breath and look at the big picture. The good news was that half of his braces were coming off. The other good news was that it wouldn’t be long until the other half came off. As much as it hurt to give up that food and gum for just a little while longer, he was almost at the end and would have beautiful teeth!
How many times have we faced a disappointment where we let it dim our excitement and appreciation of something? I’ve seen this time and again with vacation. The boys are always so excited to go somewhere and incredibly appreciative to get to go where they didn’t think they’d be able to…until something doesn’t go their way. It could be as simple as waiting one more hour before going fishing on the trip. It could be not getting ice cream until the next day. It’s absolutely silly, but it could turn an enjoyable time away into misery over something so trivial.
We see the absurdity in it, but do we see it when it’s us that’s facing a bit of disappointment? I’ll be completely up front with you, it can happen to me for sure. I have to be very careful that I take a minute to look at the big picture rather than focus on that one little thing that isn’t going my way.
Let me tell you that I’m beyond excited to get away again when I didn’t think we’d be able to in the near future. I was willing to stay in any shack available! That is…until I found a dream house right on the water that was a very real possibility. I couldn’t believe it was actually going to happen! You want to talk about someone more excited than my son getting his braces off, it was me! Until it wasn’t going to work out. This is where I needed to remind myself that a couple days before I wasn’t going anywhere.
I had to look at things not out of disappointment, but out of that same gratitude I originally had. We ended up booking a place that’s absolutely lovely and allows us to stay a few extra days. The other place just wasn’t meant to be for this trip and I know God has a better plan for us. I don’t have to quit and give up on my dream location, but I also don’t have to be unhappy right now either. I need to trust that when it’s supposed to happen, it will.
Disappointments are going to occur. However, instead of them becoming a reason to wallow in self-pity, pull yourself right back up. Joel Osteen said, “Don’t get on board with your emotions. They aren’t in charge, you’re in charge.” Trust God more than your emotions! He also said to turn it around and make a declaration of faith like David did in Psalm 42:11
I dare you to start talking to yourself with words which bring hope and lines up with God, instead of those words of disappointment and despair that play into the devil’s hands. Come on…you know I’m not the only one who talks to herself. If you’re going to be doing it anyhow, you might as well try those words of encouragement rather than the pitiful words you like when having the pity party where the only guest is you. You’ll have more of a shot at getting someone else to join you!
