A Year of GREAT Expectations!

With the Christmas season and story still resonating in my heart -- of a baby in a manger Who became our Savior, I am starting this new year of 2020 on a " great expectation” high. Certainly not expecting a Disney World kind-of-magical-year, but simple confidence in “He Who began a good work in me (and you), is faithful to complete it!” (Philippians 1:6) He Who promised that if I put my faith and trust in Him, will show me where to go and how to get there! “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge.” (Proverbs 14:26)

As I said in my blog yesterday, the number 20 symbolizes expectancy. My “expectors” are on high alert for a 2020 year and a decade of blessings! I plan to wake up each day with expecting the best out of this day – this moment. No doubt, there will be some highs and lows – but it doesn’t matter, because I plan to view each day as a gift and how I tackle it with my attitude AND fortitude will either make it or break it for me – and even others in my sphere of influence.

My husband and I, for years, made it an annual tradition to meet with our children and we’d write out our goals for the next year. We made dream boards that made our visions very plain (Habakkuk 2:2) like this one of mine and Payton’s. BTW – most all of the pictures and the dreams behind them came true in some way. There’s just something to be said for goal-setting and vision-casting. Goals create a road map for success. They are the targets that we point our lives to – with a starting point and a destination to reach. They help us clarify what we desire to do, understanding the importance of pursuing them and committing ourselves to making them happen.

My vision casting, today, isn’t so much about the things to attain since I’ve been there and have been so blessed. I’m in this sweet season of purposely laying up my treasures in heaven far more. That’s not to say we shouldn’t set goals spiritually AND naturally that include dreams and desires. But, for me, my goals are so simple – spending time with my family, some travelling, but most of all, serving God. I’m intent on leaving a legacy of faith. I sincerely believe this 2020 year will be marked by opportunities to share God’s good news everywhere I go. My “YES” is big when it comes to being a devoted follower of Christ. I’m keeping my eyes and ears wide open with great expectations for a harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God and seeing radical life transformations in those God places in my pathway. I’m purposing to find things that I can take delight in so that I always dwell on goodness and not sorrow. I know I can trust God to bring me through every circumstance in peace.

I am looking to the future and not the past. I know WHO holds my future so I have no reason to fear or doubt. I refuse to allow discouragement to take me off course. I intend to embrace what God is doing in each situation and circumstance of my life because, by now, I’ve learned “ALL things work together for good” because I love God with all my heart and I know I’m called according to His purposes.” (Romans 8:28)

This is my "Great Expectation" declaration! Could I please urge you to begin this year with a Great Expectation declaration, too? Great Expections that something good is about to happen to you and yours each day. Great expectations that God is for you. Great expectations for a great hope and future (Jeremiah 29:11). Great expectations for living in hope, love, joy and peace – every single day of this new year! Let's get our "expectors" expecting!

Hope Brings a Bigger, Bolder, Brighter Future

I hope your yesterday goes well. If I said that to you, you’d be thinking Donna has lost it! It’s silly to hope someone’s YESTERDAY goes well because HOPE doesn’t live in the past. Hope is something based on great expectations for our future.
We can look backward and reminisce the ups and downs, but we can’t HOPE in the past. Even hoping that Uncle Joe included us as a beneficiary is still HOPING in the past.

We can’t change yesterday. We can’t hope in yesterday. But, we can HOPE for today and for tomorrow to be filled with many wins, many victories, many remarkable interceptions of blessings. We can hope our marriages are stronger and we are more in love than ever OR we can even hope for marriage. Period. We can hope for a clean bill of health. We can hope for being able to conceive a baby. We can hope for a new home or car. We can hope our children do well in school.

Hoping is ALWAYS “the great expectation that something good is about to happen” now, in a minute, in this day and tomorrow. It does no good to look backward and HOPE our past gets better. I am excited and hopeful for this 2019 to turn into the greatest year of bringing people into the Kingdom of God. I am excited and hopeful for love to abound in our homes, our cities and our country. I am hopeful that the tide turns for respect for life from conception to the grave. I am hopeful that America WILL be great again in the eyes of its citizens and around the world.

Doesn’t that feel so good? I mean – being hopeful for today and tomorrow. We don’t know what tomorrow holds but we know that God holds tomorrow and He isn’t a bit surprised by His kids showing out. I’m sure He shakes His sovereign head and with amusement often says to His Son Who sits at His right hand and says “What in the world are they thinking?” In all seriousness, He’s got the whole wide world in His hands, so why should we worry or fret. Let’s just keep HOPING and PRAYING for His will being done on earth as it is in heaven!

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In the Waiting Room of Advent

I've had my share of hospital waiting rooms -- waiting while a loved one is having surgery or for the birth of a baby. While we're waiting, a transformation is taking place in the operating room. Parts of the body that were diseased or broken are being removed or repaired or new devices or parts are being added to repair the body, or, joyfully, a precious baby is being birthed. Transformation happens while we're in the Waiting Room.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent and is very much like a "Waiting Room" where transformation is taking place. The first candle (the HOPE candle) will be lit on my church's Advent wreath. When we speak of Advent, we're referring to the four weeks before Christmas (the Waiting Room) when we prepare and anticipate Christ leaving heaven, coming to earth, being born of a virgin and dwelling among man. In a sense, a transformation is taking place because in the "Waiting Room" we are expectantly waiting and remembering our Lord and Savior's birth, as we reflect on God's prophecies and promises to His people.

When I was a child, I could hardly wait for Christmas. There was the anticipation of all the delightful surprises: the delicious baked goodies, reindeer movies, our Christmas tree, the Christmas program where we wore our best outfits and recited our little poems, being a character in the Christmas play, singing carols at church and school and, of course, the presents! We always opened our presents on Christmas Eve, but the grand finale was Santa’s delivery of the one big present on Christmas morning. I’ll never forget the year my big brother ruined Santa's magic when he was ho-ho-ho-ing and I saw him delivering Santa’s gift (my new Tiny Tears doll).

When my husband and I added to the nuances of Christmas the celebrating of the season of Advent, Christmas took on an even greater meaning to us. Each Sunday during Advent, a single candle is lit on the Advent wreath, one candle for the first Sunday, two for the next and so on. Then we sing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," a hymn that expresses the longing of God's people for their Messiah. It is such a beautiful, intimate and holy time of HOPING and anticipating the Someone and something that transformed the lives of men and women everywhere.

The birth of Christ gives reminds us that we can live life in a radical way – the way of trusting, believing, and expecting that all He’s promised us is ours as we patiently wait for His perfect plan for our lives....in the Waiting Room. During this beautiful Advent season, may we find that place of loving and deepening our relationship with God – delighting in Him. It’s a radical way of living, but the infant in the manger, as sweet and mild as He seems, is our triumphant King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That precious baby grew up, and He sacrificed His life so that we can live a life of hope and great expectation every day.

May we let Him know how much we love Him and how much we desire our hearts to have a fresh revelation of Himself. May we all seek Him as the Wise Men once did and may we build in our children and grandchildren an excitement, not just for the arrival of a jolly old man in a red suit, but for the advent of the Savior of the world.

I wish you and your family a very blessed Advent and a very Merry Christmas. May the Lord bless you with an abundance of His love, His grace, and His presence. May He grant you the company of all those you hold dear and gift you, above all, with a greater measure of Himself. That's what I call the GIFT that just keeps on giving!

Living With Expectancy

My friend and I were talking yesterday about the choices we make every day. It starts the minute we wake up. We can hit the alarm over and over again and wish for a day of just sleeping. Or, we can CHOOSE to wake with great EXPECTANCY of what this day can hold in special favors, little kisses from heaven – like green lights, a great parking place, a sale on the item we're getting ready to buy (yesterday, it was a sale on grapes and clementines) – and even greater EXPECTANCY that a miracle we’ve been hoping for – shows up!

EXPECTANCY -- the state of thinking or hoping that something, especially pleasant, will happen; anticipation, excitement.

My dear husband spoke often about HOPE which he defined as “The great expectation that something good is about to happen.” Those folks who say “Don’t get your hope up”, have it all wrong – getting our hope UP is EXPECTING something good is coming our way.

Maybe this post should also include the word, CHOOSE, because every day we choose to be joyful or sorrowful; to EXPECT good things coming our way or CHOOSE to dwell on the negative circumstances of our lives and when we do….you better believe – we’ll get more of what we're EXPECTING. “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all!” Really? Is that really the EXPECTATION that we want to put out there? No, thank you! I choose daily to “Expect a Miracle”! Maybe those are three words we need to write on little sticky notes and place them all over our homes – so that we are in the attitude of expectancy. Just think about that EXPECTANT mom-to-be. I assure you, she is definitely living in the attitude of expectancy. But, why not us? Every day holds the possibility of a miracle and so why shouldn’t we expect it in our lives?

Years ago, my husband and I were going through one of the toughest seasons of our lives and our daughter placed sticky notes on our bathroom mirrors, on the refrigerator door, the coffee pot, our computers, doors, our Bibles, the treadmill, and many other places with the words “Expect a Miracle” on them. And, the more we saw those words -- the more we believed in the possibility of the miracle we needed. Those words were imprinted on our hearts and our minds and our lips. We didn't let our words or actions go rogue, because that could have aborted our miracle. Besides, we had planted tons of seeds in our church, in ministries, in charities, in good works and good deeds. So we sure didn’t want our harvest to be stolen by negative attitudes, speaking and thinking. We put a guard up against negativity and doubt. Before long, we DID receive the miracle we needed and it came in such an amazing, over-the-top way!

That's what I believe for you today -- that you begin to live in EXPECTANCY for good things and even miracles coming your way in the form of brilliant ideas, witty inventions, right people, right places, right timing in your life. Let's start picturing in our minds what that "baby" is going to look like -- that job, that financial breakthrough, that healing, that relationship restoration, that promotion, that brainwave idea that makes a total difference in our lives! "Nothing is impossible with God" -- so live with GREAT EXPECTATIONS!

Psalm 77:14 "You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the people".

Great Expectations

The word, HOPE, means “the exciting expectation that something GOOD is about to happen”. Charles Dickens is well known for his book, “Great Expectations”.
With GREAT EXPECTATION I look forward to each day being one that is blessed and joy-filled. I'm experiencing that on this beautiful cruise I'm on. Believe me -- it took work and diligence to be here, but it was worth every minute. We do what we can do to be a success and then with GREAT EXPECTATION....we can count on the rewards. And in the same way, we do our part of giving....then we can EXPECT an abundance of receiving. We do our part of planting.....we can EXPECT a bumper crop. It's just God's law or reciprocity.

Do you have your hope up and do you have great expectations for your life? Those of us who have experienced “expecting” a baby – well know that it is a process. We don’t get half way through our pregnancy and say – “I’m through with this – I’m done with ‘expecting’!” No, we know it’s a process, and if we patiently wait for “the appointed time” of delivery, we’ll be blessed with a precious bundle of love and joy.

Living a life of great expectation is a part of the BLESSED LIFE of being a fully devoted follower of Christ. That means we can live life in a radical way – the way of trusting, believing, and expecting that all He’s promised us will be ours if we patiently wait for His perfect plan for our lives...with GREAT EXPECTATION. Don’t give up! Keep your hope up! Get your EXPECTOR expecting! Remember ….. it’s a process! Your “baby” (your hopes, your dreams) will get here….and you’ll soon be blessed with God’s bundles of love, peace, beauty and joy.