Learning to handle disappointment

Today me and my daughter Rut went to the library. In the morning I had asked her if she wanted to go to the library or go to "busborgen" (the tricky castle). "Busborgen" is an old industrial facility which has been rebuilt to a big playground where you can climb, bounce and ride different slides.

I asked her many times if she would like to visit the library and read children's books or go to "busborgen". Every time she insisted that she wanted to go to the library.

Finally when we arrived to the entrance of the library Rut screamed out that she wanted to play and bounce. Then I realized that Rut had mistaken the library for "busborgen". She had a very clear image of what she wanted to do, but she was not able to communicate this to me in the proper way.

In the end I persuaded Rut that we should stay at the library and we had some good time there =)

This experience have reminded me of two things. If you want to avoid disappointment you need to communicate your expectations in a proper way. However you might have to face disappointments anyway even though you are very good at communicating your expectations to others. You can't always change circumstances and things not going your way.

Paul says in his letter to the Philippians that he can be satisfied when things are going well and be content when things are not going his way. He suggests that this attitude is possible through God who strengthens him (Phi 4:12-13).

My prayer is that God will give me and you the strength to face our disappointments with the wisdom and courage that He gives.