Expectations - Cathy Joy Hill

What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV

“Expectations rob joy.” 

I have become fond of this saying and have shared it with many people. I had become a believer in the lack of expectation and the perfunctory perfection of being surprised. If we don’t expect, we can only be surprised. There is truth in the saying still, but there is also the truth that removing expectations can steal blessings. 

Six of us sat around the table for the first time in forever and said thank you. The chair my dad once occupied was empty. I pushed it off to the side. I didn’t want to see, feel, or hear its void. 

My girls made the place cards. I reminded them repeatedly that we would be “doing things differently this year.” Different does not deliver, but it does distract. 

We made it through dinner well. The kids were ecstatic about the holiday plans. They were also old enough to notice the food and comment on the recipes, letting me know what was a keeper and a passer for next year. I ate it up, along with every buttered bite. 

Then came the moment after dinner and before dessert when we went from person to person and saluted those places, people, and circumstances for whom we were grateful. 

The kids were fabulous—laughing and reminding us that all the work that goes into this parenting thing is worth it. They see and hear, even if we think they are blind and deaf on most day 

My husband looked down the table at me. I was ready—joy-filled—but then, before I spoke a word, the tears came. Not over what I had lost but rather over what I had gained.

Suddenly, expectations did not seem like the villain I had portrayed for many years. I am grateful for what has been and terrifically ecstatic about what will be—beloveds around the table. Beloveds I will see again. That expectation does not disappoint. It heals. I smiled to myself. It is me, not my children, who often does not hear.

My mother lost two children who came and went too soon. She spent forty years waiting to see them again. Every one of those years, every trip to their grave, she said, “The day they went, heaven became sweeter.”

I didn’t listen until today. Mom’s sweetness came when her babies went home. Mine came when she and daddy went.

The stuff and the stuffing. They are all just decorations. The divine is starting to hold me. I catch my breath at the thought of it.

I am becoming grateful. I am learning expectations of heaven and Jesus are the grace with which we live and die—a grace-filled life packed with expectation.

What are your expectations? 

Tweetable: What are your expectations? 

Cathy is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She met her husband Brian while studying in Paris, France. They make their home in Geneva, IL, with their four children and their daughter-in-love. She loves writing about the wonder and whimsy of life and her love for Jesus. Her first book is Destination: Fierce, Moving from Fear to Fierce. Learn more about Cathy at www.cathyjoyhill.com.

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

A Cup Too Small - Cathy Joy Hill

Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Matthew 6:25 NIV

Maybe we’ve been given a cup too small.

I heard her behind me as I walked along the lake in Chicago. A young woman discussed going to New York to find her “perfect job.” Strolling in arguably one of the greatest cities in the world, where opportunities wait on every square block, she was dissatisfied and searching.

I would have turned around and scolded her if I had not once been her. I remember seeking perfection. My oldest son is busy now with the same pursuit, and my youngest son is also—the latter, the perfect grad school, the younger, the perfect role in the musical.

Is it because God formed us by perfection that we desire it so? We search long and hard for something we don’t yet have—fame, wealth, love, happiness, contentment, understanding, excitement, forgiveness, relationship. We always need one more thing, one more minute, one more day.

I am eternally grateful to look back and still have time to look forward. I tell my sons that what looks like failure is God-directed. And what feels like success is simply a steppingstone.

Perfect contentment, love, trust, and friendship are reserved for one relationship. That one that stole our heart at conception and keeps it under His watchful eye. God waits for us to find Him. He seeks us so gently we don’t even know He is there. After finding Him, we chase to go faster and farther and taller and better. But the best position we can hold is bent over in service or on our knees in prayer.

Our frustration over failure is replaced by the exultation of a grand director who gently leads with the whisper of angels and the tug of the intangible.

These touches from Him reverse and inverse everything we value. We realize the greatest is the least, the smallest is exceptional, and the cup that seemed so small only needs pouring out to grow.

The pressure to do, be, and have is replaced by the posture of grace. All grace. The breath, the life, the suffering. All grace to be a part of this grand prelude to the glorious finish.

I tell my sons to enjoy the ride because the finish line is incredibly worth it. Stay on the path, see the view, watch God work, and listen hard. I want to see God’s hand stamped all over the passport of my heart. Blessed indeed is the one who stops seeking and realizes what they have found.

Is your cup too small?

Tweetable: Is your God-cup too small?  

Cathy is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She met her husband Brian while studying in Paris, France. They make their home in Geneva, IL, with their four children and their daughter-in-love. She loves writing about the wonder and whimsy of life and her love for Jesus. Her first book is Destination: Fierce, Moving from Fear to Fierce. Learn more about Cathy at www.cathyjoyhill.com.

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Stunned - Cathy Joy Hill

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. Psalm 23:4 NLT

The little old robin—grazed by a car—tried to regain her footing from the shock. I wished I had water or seed. I wished I could hold her and tell her all would be okay. I was sure her wings would fly again one day, but her eyes looked dazed and a bit confused.

She finally settled down, and I softly spoke to her. I planned to carry her home and release her as soon as she felt strong. She had other plans. As I drew closer, she hopped under the hedge, where she breathed easier.

I can relate. At some point, we are all stunned, confused, and perhaps dazed. Evil in every newscast. Death on every shore. We want someone to say everything will be okay—to hold us for a little while, to keep us from the harm, and to help us understand that even in the shadow of death, we have hope.

God says our place of rest is under His wing. We will still see, hear, and know evil, but we can be confident in the ever-present help of the One who tells us we do not have to fear. He alone is our hope. We are stunned, but not lost; confused, but not abandoned; dazed, but not desolate; heartbroken, but not forsaken. We are held and, absolutely, never alone.

How do you respond when you are stunned? 

Tweetable: Have you been stunned? 

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All There Monday - Cathy Joy Hill

Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 NLT

Sometimes, we invite folks into our lives and really can’t remember how they got there.

I saw her headed to the bathroom and thought she didn’t look well. By the time she reappeared, everyone who wasn’t going on to Chicago had deplaned.

Inadvertently I had blocked the aisle as I stood and stretched. It had been a long day, and I faced another three hours on the plane.

“Are you waiting for the bathroom?” she spoke-shouted.

“No, just stretching. How are you?”

“Absolutely terrible.”

Because we were close together, I felt I couldn’t let her pass without at least a question, a word, or a hug. Something.

“What can I do for you?” I asked.

She told me she was air sick. I moved to a safer distance. Then she explained she was traveling to a funeral. She didn’t want to be on three flights to get there, but she was doing it for her friend.

This woman whom I had momentarily cast as loud and perhaps nauseous was a brave and compassionate soul. I applauded her.

Jim Elliot said, “Wherever you are, be all there.”

I was not excited about chatting with my elderly friend for the entire plane trip. But missing her story would have been a mistake. She encouraged me in ways she never knew.

I was tired, but my destination was home, family, love, and rest. Her destination was beside a friend and a casket.

Life is a bottle to pour out. We always have the choice to taste sweet in the bitter . . . to find joy amid the pain if we choose to see, hear, and be present.

I told my new friend to be brave. I told her how much I admired her and offered her my peppermint stick to soothe her motion sickness.

All there is the act of being aware of God—being brave in the face of whatever we face. It is knowing the joy, the true heaven-sent joy, of realizing He is there, even if we don’t want to be.

Tweetable: In what ways are you being all there? 

Cathy is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She met her husband Brian while studying in Paris, France. They make their home in Geneva, IL, with their four children and their daughter-in-love. She loves writing about the wonder and whimsy of life and her love for Jesus. Her first book is Destination: Fierce, Moving from Fear to Fierce. Learn more about Cathy at www.cathyjoyhill.com.

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Costumes - Cathy Joy Hill

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 NIV

I watched these little ones run up and down the street. And envied them.

All the ballerinas and the supermen. The pirates and the princesses. I envied them. My youngest girl had debated what to be for more than a month. There is magic in hiding behind a mask. For one short moment to be something we are not, something bigger or better or brighter or stronger.

As adults, we play a dozen different roles that expose and exhaust. Rarely do we get to hide. Rarely can we pretend we are anything but who and what we are. It defines us. Our titles. We are Moms or Dads or volunteers or teachers or students or workers. We are housewives or hostesses, holding a thousand things in two seemingly too small hands. Oh, for one day to run and hide or be behind something that isn’t in the spotlight.

To be someone or something else for one day sounds so precious, especially on days when our skin feels tight and burdensome or wrinkled and old.

I get it. God tells us we are His workmanship, yet we busy ourselves reworking ourselves far too often. Taking what is His and hiding or regretting or reliving or redefining. We want a healthy body. He wants a holy life.

Other than the touches He fashioned in the womb, God rarely, if ever, looks on the outside. Instead, he sees this marvelous heart, soul, and spirit wrapped and protected in skin we often cover and paint.

What if we turned our focus inward to His beating heart? And what if our first thoughts were of Him and heaven and eternity when we reached outward? Wouldn’t the glances in the mirror become shorter, the fretting over the bank account be less frequent, and the wondering about the kids and careers be shadowed by the light radiating from Him?

I want to live a life exposed to the gospel and reveal a God who passionately wants His people to live as if every moment were a miracle from Him. Our redefining would become rejoicing, and hallelujah would replace our hiding. We would find contentment and define joy.

Will you release what you may not be for the embrace of all God is?

Tweetable: Are you wearing a costume? 

Cathy is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She met her husband Brian while studying in Paris, France. They make their home in Geneva, IL, with their four children and their daughter-in-love. She loves writing about the wonder and whimsy of life and her love for Jesus. Her first book is Destination: Fierce, Moving from Fear to Fierce. Learn more about Cathy at www.cathyjoyhill.com.

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

End Game - Cathy Joy Hill

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. John 4:14 NIV

Weary? Me too.

It seems the more we get to do, the more there is to do. And I get sideways on what is important, what can wait, and what simply has no significance in the kingdom. 

When Jesus met the Samaritan at the well, He knew she was much the same. She was doing the same old, same old, not enjoying it, and sensing there was something more. 

If we scale our days around eternity, they shape something holy instead of hurried. I am ready to trade and give up going to the well a dozen times with my list for that one time with my Lord. I am ready to fill up with Him in exchange for the world that empties me of my peace. He is crazy good at simplifying.

I have mastered multitasking. My race needs to see Heaven in the distance. My pace needs to be full of passion. My attitude needs to reflect what He is instead of what I am not. My end game should be less of me and a whole lot more of God. He promises to carry the heaviest load, and His grace shines in the deepest water.

Don’t be weary. Be filled with hope.

Tweetable: Where do you find hope? 

Cathy is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She met her husband Brian while studying in Paris, France. They make their home in Geneva, IL, with their four children and their daughter-in-love. She loves writing about the wonder and whimsy of life and her love for Jesus. Her first book is Destination: Fierce, Moving from Fear to Fierce. Learn more about Cathy at www.cathyjoyhill.com.

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Bluegill - Cathy Joy Hill

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NIV

When I was eight and my brother nine, we would head to the neighborhood pool—a towel strapped on my bike and a fishing pole on his.

We promised Mom we had each other’s back. Eventually boredom or sunburn would get the best of me, and I would wander from the pool out to the pond. Normally I would find my brother alone, him and his fish. 

One day, however, a friend had joined him. The friend, seemingly intrigued with an audience, reeled in a bluegill, unhooked the fish, and began taunting me. Within seconds, it was a full-on chase, the fish flopping and me screaming. It was not one of my best moments.

Then something happened. I realized how ridiculous I looked, I realized I was exhausted, and I realized I was not afraid of fish. I turned and, with all the courage I could muster, screamed, “Give me the fish.” 

The look of shock and disappointment covered my pursuer’s face. His fun was over. He flipped the fish, now surely almost dead, back into the pond and simply walked away. 

Today, my fears are bigger than bluegill. Now, I stay up nights. It is not me who runs, but my mind. I am not quick to face my pursuer. Rather, I pledge to work harder, do more, and be more. I commit to all these things with the hope they will forge a wall against my fears.

Then, when every possible effort has not wedged its way in front of fear, I remember the bluegill. It is not more of me that musters strength, but more of God. It is not my courage that will chase the bluegills away, but my confidence in God. It is holding my hands up in surrender and watching Him, my Defender, remove the fear.

God never asks us how much we can take, how long we can endure, or how far we can run. He tells us to watch all He can do, hold, and manage.

How can you learn to trust God more? 

Tweetable: Are you trusting God? 

Cathy is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She met her husband Brian while studying in Paris, France. They make their home in Geneva, IL, with their four children and their daughter-in-love. She loves writing about the wonder and whimsy of life and her love for Jesus. Her first book is Destination: Fierce, Moving from Fear to Fierce. Learn more about Cathy at www.cathyjoyhill.com.

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.