Reasonable Expectations

I was just about to board a plane with my 2 daughters last week and we ran in for a quick bite to eat before the plane took off.  My fortune said, “Keep your expectations reasonable.”  (Not much of a fortune, more like a saying!)  I laughed as I read this.  It was very simple, yet completely profound to me.  Most of the time when I am frustrated with my children, annoyed at their behavior, impatient with their lack of understanding, it is because my expectations are way too high for 5 and 2 year olds.  Telling me to “lower my expectations” feels like someone saying “settle for less, be mediocre, don’t care so much.”  But when it comes to children, lowering my expectations is exactly what I need to do – or Keep my expectations reasonable.  I have found that when my expectations for my children are age appropriate, I enjoy them so much more and am less frustrated that they don’t operate on my level.  Perhaps a little truth that we need to adopt in more areas of life – keep dreaming, keep striving, pursue excellence, all the while keeping our expectations reasonable.  In the same way that we should expect 5 year olds to behave like 5 year olds (for that is what they are!)  we also can expect much of our God who is Creator of the universe!  How often do we have low expectations of God because we lack faith, vision or understanding of who He really is?  Having reasonable expectations of God probably means expecting a lot more than our limited minds allow.  He is able to accomplish exceeding more than we can think or imagine!  Keep your expectations reasonable!