Restoring Hearts Blog

“He wants us to know Him so intimately that we recognize Him with our spirits, even when He doesn’t make sense – and even offends our natural minds.” Kristen M. Smeltzer Last week I wrote about my struggle with God not meeting my expectations. To my natural mind, it didn’t make sense for us to move us to Wichita and start all over in our early sixties. Even when you are obeying God, life doesn’t always turn out like we expect. Herod imprisoned John the Baptist and in Matthew

“Unmet expectations breed frustrations.” Lysa Terkeurst I learned years ago that when my expectations are high, then there’s greater possible disappointment if the expectations are not met. If we have expectations of God, how we think He should act in a certain situation and He doesn’t, we can become offended. Our expectations may encourage us to take on the role of a victim. Initially when John’s medical practice began to plummet, my expectations rose to the surface of my he

“The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us.” Oswald Chambers The past two weeks’ posts have been about Asa, the King of Judah, and his seven steps to fighting battles (II Chronicles 14:11). Prior to the victory over the Cushites and afterward, Asa relied on God and showed his faithfulness by removing foreign altars and the high places, smashing sacred stones and cutting down the Asherah poles. As a result

“Wherever the hope of glory lives, hopelessness passes away.” Nadine C. Keels Upon moving to Nebraska from Arizona, we were instructed not to plant flowers till Mother’s Day. We were encouraged to wait because frosts could occur up to that date. Galatians 6:7 says we reap what we sow. If you plant tomato seeds, you will harvest tomatoes. It’s equally important to observe what seeds we plant in the garden of our heart. Hopelessness will sprout up if we plant the following seed

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” Alexander Pope It seems many expectations are placed on us during Christmas. For numerous years I hoped to create a picture perfect Christmas for my family, the kind that is a cross between a Norman Rockwell and a Thomas Kinkade painting. I imagined softly fallen snow, joyful children dressed in red, pine trees adorned with homemade ornaments and the scent of holiday cookies baking while Christmas carols

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall enjoy everything.” Saint Francis of Assisi In 1981 I asked a friend who had just completed his medical residency for any tips on surviving John’s upcoming surgical internship. Without hesitation he said, “Have no expectations.” He went on to describe the possible scenario of John calling to say he was heading home, only to be paged right back to the ER. That one piece of advice has not only helped me on numerous occasions when