Pleasing a Child

Despite my determination to never be the mother of a football player, I was overruled and my six-year-old became a football player. For the record, it was flag football and it was called a "football camp" on the registration forms and fliers.

We decided to sign our son up for this football camp. It met for 70 minutes a week for six weeks. To say my husband and I were disappointed in the camp was an understatement. It was really 20 five- and six-year-olds wearing flags and running around a field chasing after whoever had the ball. The flier and website both advertised it as a way to learn the basics of football, the rules, and technique. Well, this didn't happen.

Today was the last day of camp, a "scrimmage" against the Lancaster/New Holland team. With 20 kids on the team playing five kids at a time, playing time was minimal.

After the game, every kid received a certificate of participation. My son was so proud of his certificate. I looked at it and saw a red piece of card stock picked up straight from a copier. There were no names on it, no signatures. It was a let down to me, but to him it was the best thing I the world.

My son was thrilled by the whole flag football experience. He was excited to be around people and to be around football. He enjoyed it every week. My husband and I were careful not to talk about our negative thoughts in front of him. We did not want to cloud his judgment of the game or the camp.

My six-year-old was pleased. My husband and I were not. The difference was our expectations. All Andrew wanted was a fun time and some recognition of having done something. We expected more.

(By the way, despite meeting my son's expectations, my husband and I write the checks and we will not be writing one to this group again.)

How many times do we set our expectations too high? How often do we set ourselves up for disappointment because of those too high expectations? I know I have been challenged to try to set realistic expectations in order to have a more positive outlook on life.

Appreciation

We were listening to the Kids Cookie Break on the radio yesterday morning and learned that today was Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day. We decided to take advantage of that fact and show the teachers at church our gratitude. They got a thank you card signed by class members and a small jar of candy. This was merely a token of appreciation, but I think the teachers appreciated the acknowledgment of the dedication and hard work they put into teaching each week.

As one of the Sunday School teachers being appreciated, it was a little awkward when my son said, "Mom even made one for herself." It would have been more awkward not to have put the work into it for myself as well, but his comment did get me thinking about patting myself on the back a little.

It is hard for me to appreciate me. It isn't that I don't want some acknowledgement of my hard work, but I don't feel like I here it so I really doubt sometimes that certain things are really doing any good. I need to stat recognizing that if God wants me to do it, then it is good whether anyone else recognizes it or not.

This morning also made me realize that I don't show others appreciation enough. I am setting a goal for myself that I want to find something specific to thank someone else for at least once a week and then tell them.

A Gift I Don't Deserve

I received an email this week that showed I would be receiving an early Christmas/birthday present. This present has a very high monetary value for a gift and while I know that the givers can afford to give it to me, it is still hard to accept the gift. In our current family situation we cannot afford to reciprocate with a gift of the same monetary value. In fact, the gift(s) that this person will be receiving are homemade gifts this year. While I know that they will appreciate the time and effort that I have/will put into the gifts, it still feels a little less than adequate. (By the way, I know that the gift was given knowing that there was not a way for us to return the favor and there was not an expectation of that in any way, shape, or form on the part of the givers. These feelings are completely my own.

As I worked through the feelings of guilt over this gift, I had to remind myself of several things.

The giving of the gift gives great joy to the person giving the gift. Christmas and birthdays are so much more fun as I watch my children open their presents! Seeing their faces light up as they open something unexpected just makes my heart smile. I know it brought and will bring great joy to this person to give me this gift as well. She knew it was not something I could afford to get on my own and that I never would have asked for it but that I will use both to benefit me in terms of helping my family and church but also will bring me entertainment.

Second, I thought about the fact that I have truly been blessed by many people, particularly with gifts for may children. I had a sister give us a swing, car seat, bouncer seat, stroller frame, and more when she was done with them and we were having Andrew. I had a friend from high school mail me a box of her daughter's clothes for Abby because of a difference in seasons between her and Catherine. And that is just to name a few.

Finally, my thoughts keep returning to how blessed I am, not because of this particular gift but because of the fact that I have received something so much more than that from God when he gave me the gift of grace and mercy through His Son, Jesus. This is a gift I definitely do not deserve, yet God gave it to me anyway!

I sometimes, okay often, forget how truly unworthy I am of that gift. I am a sinner and that means I am separated from God. But even with that separation that I deserve, he gave His Son's life for mine! Why don't I feel this appreciation more often?