Expectations

                 Who decides what is expected of others, parents, teachers, friends, ourselves? Who really gets to choose what we should do, how we should do it, and why we should do it? I’m sure many people in their childhood have heard their parents utter the four most painful words ever… “I’m disappointed in you”. In all honesty, I think many children would rather have their parents yell at them and be mad then hearing those words. For some reason those four words have a power like no other, they sure can make a person feel really bad about what they’ve done. I remember having them spoken to me when I was younger, I can’t remember the exact circumstance but I remember the feeling after I heard it. It’s like all of a sudden being attacked with guilt, when you hear them say that sentence to you; you know you really hurt them.
                
                 The expectations our parents put on us have a lasting effect.  As well as parents, the expectations that teachers put on you can also have a positive and lasting effect. If these expectations are so important, then why is it when we are in grades nine through twelve the only expectations that we truly care about are the ones given to us by our friends. We have to dress the right way, eat the right food, watch the right TV shows, this list of useless expectations is endless. Lately I’ve been thinking about all of these things that are expected of us, whether they are important or not, whether we meet them or not do they truly matter? When it comes down to it, does it truly matter? Finally I figured it out, I had been ignoring it all along, I was too busy paying attention to all these other things that I didn’t see what really mattered- God’s expectations. 
               
                When this suddenly occurred to me, I started googling it (becoming more interested in the matter). Finally, I stumbled on this African-American Proverb, “God makes three requests of his children: Do the best you can where you are, with what you have, now”. This says it all. These are God’s expectations summed up in 80 letters, 20 words and 1 sentence.  This is what really matters…God is what really matters. Sometimes you may just have to look a little farther to realize it.

Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.

-CS Lewis