Expectancy + 12

We moved to Nevada in February of 2013 filled with eager expectation of what God had in store for us! In all honesty, we didn't know what to expect but moved forward in trust. When it came to personal family expectations, we thought maybe we'd see our family grow via adoption in some way and assumed we'd  find new friends and explore "the west" Josh and Jenn style (which of course we have done a little). 

What we NEVER expected was that we would have a 7th grader move in with us only seven months into this new season! But guess what, that just happened! (Seriously, it literally just happened one month ago) Talk about insta-parenting! WOW!

On Sept 28, Adam, Jenn's second cousin, officially became part of the Brown family culture. He is currently planning to stay with us for the school year, and has made quite the transition himself, coming from Missouri with the encouragement of his mom, grandparents, and us. 

One month in, we are still filled with hopeful expectations of what this will mean for Adam (and us) both short term and long term. With the introduction of this new family character (and storyline), I'm even more fascinated by the term expectation. 

Josh and I have had many expectations through the years, some have worked out but many haven't (or haven't yet). But what we have discovered in the process, is that it's fun to be surprised by God. It is these  moments and challenges that strengthen my core (just like all those sit ups in aerobics classes, which I actually hate!).

When it comes down to it, we all have expectations. Expectations of what our marriage will look like, how our kids will act, what our family will do, etc. While we like to say without expectation, "it's all in God's hands," most of the time we still have a picture of what will happen or have high hopes for something specific to come true. With so many things going differently than I imagined to this point in life, my expectations are starting to look less like specific things to be accomplished but more like a baseline expectation of being surprised by what God has next. I'm find more and more, that I simply expect God to do something interesting!

It's true, surprises and even unfulfilled expectations are challenging -- they often rock us to our knees and require us to lean in a little deeper into this life of faith. What I truly love, is that when we are forced to really trust God we are able to grab hold and cling to the hope that our gracious, loving God has this all figured out. We just have to keep moving forward, day by day, faith step by faith step.  

As the Brown house fully embraces the unexpected surprise of our current reality, we are praying a lot and breathing deeply! We have many unanswered questions, and sometimes forget to breath. For this week, we are learning that it is tricky to balancing grace, love, and discipline. And I often wonder if this is how God feels about us. 

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