- Encouragement
When You’re Struggling with Disappointment of the Worst Kind
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
My son keeps me laughing with funny videos posted online. One was from the movie Hercules.
Rumor has it the script had the word “disappointed” in parenthesis, noting that the actor was to say the line as if he were disappointed. Instead, when the actor got to that particular line he yelled out, “DISAPPOINTED!” Oops!
Now when I’m feeling really disappointed, I think about Hercules’ “DISAPPOINTED!” and it usually makes me laugh.
But disappointment is no laughing matter. And if we let it, disappointment can morph into deep-seated discouragement.
Everyone will experience discouragement at some point in life. It will look as different and unique as the fingerprints on your hand, but disappointments will come.
Dropping your son off at a rehab center instead of college.
Signing divorce papers instead of planning an anniversary celebration.
Looking for a job rather than getting a raise.
Cuddling up with a good book rather than cozying up with a good husband.
Planning a funeral instead of planning a future.
Counting out food stamps instead of writing a check.
Moving up in your career rather than rocking a baby in your arms.
Yes, everyone will experience broken dreams at some point.
I had a dream of having a houseful of children. After my son was born, I felt we were well on our way to making that dream a reality.
I loved being a mom! With Bambi-length eyelashes, chubby cheeks and a shock of black hair, Steven held my heart in his tiny little hand the first time I laid eyes on him.
Eighteen months later, I was ready to plan baby number two. We conceived Steven with no trouble whatsoever, so I thought giving him a sibling would be just as easy.
We told Steven, “Mommy and Daddy are asking God to give you a little brother or sister!” At the end of our family prayer each night, Steven would add, “And God, please give mommy and daddy another Jaynes baby.”
But the next month there was no news of another Jaynes baby. Or the next … or the next. Doctor visits, infertility treatments and monthly heartbreak consumed my thinking. This was not how the story was supposed to go.
The disappointment was crushing. The discouragement was visceral.
Steven was almost 5 and still praying for a brother or sister every night, but it looked like that would not happen. I didn’t know what to tell my little boy so full of faith.
“Dear God, if this is Your will for our family,” I sighed, “You’ve got to take care of this prayer situation with Steven.”
One day in the kitchen, Steven looked up, and in his sweet little voice said, “Mommy, have you ever thought maybe God only wants you to have one Jaynes baby?”
“Yes, I have thought that,” I replied. “And if that’s what He wants, I’m so thankful He has given me all I have ever hoped — wrapped up in one package, YOU!”
