Expectations vs. Reality

Psalm 103:10-12
        He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
(I read this verse today, and it kind of rocked my world! I wanted to share it with you all. How good is our God!)

Have you ever been rocked by a sermon? Gotten the feeling that God is using your pastor as a megaphone to get his point across to you, because you obviously aren't getting it? That's what happened to us this last Sunday. Russ, our pastor, was finishing up a series on Jonah. He chose the focus of expectations versus reality. These are some of the questions he posed:
          Are my expectations of God in line with reality? Do I have unfair expectations of God? Do I expect certain circumstances to occur, and get upset when they don't?

Talk about convicting!! God challenged me on my expectations with the support raising process we are going through currently. Expectation: response cards will flood our mail box. Reality: we haven't received one in a week. Expectation: people will be falling over themselves to support us and support raising will be a piece of cake. Reality: this has been one of the most challenging experiences I have ever gone through.

I expected God to follow my directions, agree to my plans, and say "Yes, Jenna, it will happen exactly as you planned." HA! Sadly, God doesn't work like that. A friend of mine reminded me of a saying, "The best way to make God laugh is to make our own plans." How true that is. I think I am trusting in God, believing that the support will come in (which is God's nature in providing for the needs his followers), but who said it was supposed to be by July 18th? Once again, our departure date has been moved back, in order for our pastor to be at church for our commissioning July 24th. But who's to say that wasn't God's plan all along? I self-imposed a leave date and promptly worried and stressed about it. Maybe God is telling me to take a chill pill and let him be in control. Which sounds fantastic, but is hard to put into practice when you are a fan of being in control.

So, update: We are currently looking at leaving around the end of July. We have $650/mo. raised, praise Jesus!! We have a three-bedroom duplex to live in, a plan on how to move across country, and the prayers of alot of people. Thank the Lord! If you want to sit down and talk with us about what we are doing in Indiana, please let us know!! We want to make sure we see as many people as we can :)
Love you all!
Jenna Stanton