Tip of My Iceberg

When you’ve been given a gift, it’s important to use it and not just let it sit.

We’ve got a great home, a place that is calming, warm, and welcoming. Our schedules often get too crazy to enjoy entertaining, so when given the chance, it’s fun to take advantage of an opportunity.

A dear friend was giving a baby shower for her daughter, who after years of waiting was having a child. A son. My friend’s first grandchild. Her joy at celebrating this life, this dream come true, was beautiful to behold. Our place is more conducive to crowds, so I offered to host at our home.

I’m not a planner by nature. Pinterest is my nemesis; I don’t do the crafts and decorations that are part of so many gatherings nowadays; I’m inept with that particular type of creativity. Ask me to bake, to clean my house up, to engage people in conversations, and I’m all in.

I’m a simple kind of gal.

Leanne is a planner. She’s talented in putting together things in a way that’s beautiful, with eye-catching details that tie everything together. She had friends help with the decorations, and my home looked stunning with little-boy-blue everything.

Kelly, the mom of the moment, was beyond pleased. Having so many people celebrate this long-awaited and hoped-for little guy was a gift to her of love and delight.

Yes, she got wonderful gifts for her little boy. He will be outfitted like a king with all the new and necessary accouterments for infants.

The unseen gift given that day was the support and love from a myriad of people who understood what the journey of waiting and hope has been like. People who’ve been on the sidelines, like fans in the stands, encouraging, anticipating what would be a genuine win.

Wins don’t always happen.

I have friends and family who’ve longed for the results Kelly and her husband are enjoying. Their wait wasn’t rewarded with what was hoped for. Empty arms disappoint. Other friends yearn for someone to love them well, a godly spouse, a life companion who will see them as a gift meant to be enjoyed for decades. Loneliness is hard. Still, others are confronted with challenges in parenting that no one warned them about. There is no perfect formula for great marriages or perfect children.

It all takes work.

We don’t live in a magical place where we rub a lamp and get our desired wishes. Or have a fairy godmother who grants us our life’s desires at just the right moment.

We live in a broken world where disappointment is as much a part of life as breathing. It happens. If you’re not disappointed about something this moment, wait five minutes. It’ll come.

But God.

God alone can provide perspective and hope in the hard and disappointing times. An eternal perspective which is greater than our tomorrows. His joy is in the moment; His hope is forever.

Kelly’s hope will be realized. She is grateful.

For hopes shattered or unrealized, God is our solace.

He knows disappointment. He’s enough we need to walk through it.