Expectation

And now, Lord, for what do I expectantly wait?  My hope [my confident expectation] is in You.

Psalm 39:7 AMP

I recently went to Walt Disney World with some of my closest friends for a “girls’ weekend.”  It had been close to thirty years since I had been to Disney, and I had never stayed past dark.  This weekend was to be the exception.  I was eager with anticipation and expecting to have a great time!

Prepared with matching Believing for a Miracle shirts, we approached our day.  I am not even certain whose idea it was to wear the shirts, but it was a great one!  The shirts served a dual purpose.  First, it made it easier for Disney’s Cast Members to recognize us as a group when seating us on rides.  Second, wearing the shirts gave us the opportunity to start a conversation with those who saw us and were curious about the words displayed.  (I had the opportunity to share how God healed my oldest son from cancer and am currently praying for a young lady named Adolyn as a result of my friend talking about the shirt with me.)

Ready

The weather was a perfect temperature.  Wearing short-sleeved shirts and long pants kept us comfortable all day and ready for anything! While it had been chilly at home the week before, in sunny Florida it was a beautiful 80 degrees.  It was warm enough to enjoy an icy orange sherbet and ice cream treat, but cool enough that we weren’t sweating as we walked around on the black asphalt. We even rode a water-ride since one of our friends had the foresight to come prepared with a poncho for each of us.  It was a grand adventure.  And we loved experiencing each detail of every ride together.  Even the time spent in the queue lines made way for peals of laughter over things as simple as how to properly hold a water-bottle. (Yes, there can be joy even in seasons of waiting!)

Everything in the park was so beautiful in the daylight. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like at nighttime.  Throughout the day, my friends and I “oohed and ahhhed” over one display or another, and each of us took a plethora of photographs.   The flowers, greenery, and intricately-woven ribbons in stunning displays were breath-taking.

The Castle

As the sun started to set, my friends and I began to make our way toward Cinderella’s castle.  The park had not been overly crowded all day, at least not as much as I knew was possible.  There was so much to see and do at the park, but the rides and activities were so spread out that even with the vast number of people within the gates, my friends and I had room to walk two-by-two most of the day.

The closer we got to the castle, however, the more crowded it became.  It seemed that everyone was looking forward to seeing the lighting of the castle.  We had arrived 15 minutes prior to the scheduled lighting.  Even with that early arrival time, hundreds of people seated themselves en-masse before the castle.  There were just as many standing along the fences.  People were laughing and talking with loved-ones, taking photographs, and pointing at one interesting item or another.  There was a definite, tangible excitement!

I took several pictures of the castle and some of my friends, but then I began to look around at the people.  I like to watch people anyway, and I found it particularly interesting watching the crowd that evening.  There was such a diversity of people – different ages and ethnicities, various backgrounds.  There was such a colorful array of people, and I found the details of all that I was seeing absolutely fascinating.  But as I studied the crowd, one dominant emotion surfaced in the eyes of each person – expectation.

Expecting

Expecting, according to Merriam-Webster (n.d.), is defined – to wait, stay: to look forward: to be pregnant; to anticipate or look forward to the coming or occurrence of.  I literally had no idea what I was expecting, exactly.  I had never seen Disney at dark.  But I knew that whatever it was – it was going to be worth the wait.

What if we, as believers, were all in a state of expectation, all the time?   What would that look like?  Would people notice and inquire what was so different about our gazes?  How piqued would their interest be?  Would our demeanor or expressions raise their own personal awareness enough to ask?

Looking among a crowd of gatherers with their eyes peeled to a darkened castle, the light in their eyes was one of expectation.  We were none of us disappointed.  Over 200,000 lights dripped down the turrets and walls of Cinderella’s castle after the lighting explosion was complete.

The castle, in its enlightened splendor, was breathtaking, and tears pricked my eyes.  What I saw was even better than what I had expected, and Holy Spirit nudged my heart.  Was I expecting in my real life with even a fragment of the eagerness of the lighting of the castle?  Did my eyes hold a light of holy expectation?  Did that level of hope make me look different from those around me?