Broken Expectations - and Serendipities!

Have you ever cracked open an egg to smell that horrible aroma of a rotten egg?   Not at all what you expect, is it?  But just as unexpected is the joy of cracking open an egg to find that it's a double yolk!  Again, not expected, but BETTER than your expectations.  
Throughout my life, I've found that my biggest disappointments come from my own expectations.  Mostly from expectations of how others should respond - something which when I think about it, I really don't have any control over.  It might be my expectations of how I think my spouse should act, or it could be my expectations that a book I'm about to read will be spell binding.  

It's disappointing, even disgusting, when a person opens a carton of fruit, expecting plump, juicy berries, only to find that a good portion of it is already moldy.  After all, I'd paid for this to be good quality fruit, correct?  In this matter, I do have the choice to either salvage what is still edible, or take it back to the store for a refund or exchange.  Or perhaps you have hired a teenager to cut your lawn, expecting relief from not having to do it yourself. However, the job leaves much to be desired.  The shortcomings are pointed out, the job is finished, and the teen is paid.  In some instances, expectations are reasonable, a matter of good faith.
Even reasonable expectations are sometimes not going to materialize, and that's where the brokenness comes in.  It is reasonable, I believe, to marry with the clear expectation that this relationship will last until death, and that partners will be faithful, loving spouses.  Then BAM!  One day your world comes crashing down as that relationship dissolves into a million pieces, accompanied by a pain that you never expected to experience.
Every parent has dreams, high expectations for a happy life for their children.  We do our best in raising our family, make mistakes, sure, but overall do our best to provide a loving home.  Then BAM!  A child is deep into the hell of drug dependency, or perhaps a serious illness develops, and no matter how old your child is, it is every parents' nightmare when they learn that their child has died.  So much for dreams, the promise of a future, the expectations that you had as a parent.
Is there anything in this world that you can expect to play out in a way that is not heartbreaking?  The answer is yes.  Of course much in our life happens as we might expect it to.  What I've come to learn, however, is there there truly is only one thing that I can expect to be present in my life.  God, and His eternal care and love for me.  No matter what.  As humans, we are imperfect.  I can't rely on others to fulfill me by doing what I expect them to.  My fulfillment comes from my relationship with God.  The more I let go of my expectations of others, of how I see situations, the more I am surprised at the great gifts I've been given in my life.  
Remember the double-yolked egg?  This is the cool part.  As I let go of my expectations many times in my life BAM!  I am blessed with situations that are totally unexpected, way beyond any expectations I might have conjured up!  The serendipities pop up all over the place!  
My challenge to you, as well as to myself - let go of your expectations.  Be prepared instead for SERENDIPITIES!  Be thankful for those blessings which are unexpected!

**Click here for the rest of the blogs in this series, "Broken".