anticipation...it is a good thing!

I am taking the family to Disney World for the first time in 19...oops make that 18 days. You can feel the excitement in our house. Yesterday I came home and Kozbi and Kelyn had made a huge countdown calendar complete with an array of Disney characters so they can mark it off day by day! The anticipation is thick in my house. Working, saving, and planning for the trip has been so much fun this year. YES and entire year to get ready for this trip. Again...the anticipation is so worth it.

As I think about anticipation I think the church (your children's, youth, small group, Sunday school, every area of your ministry) needs to work hard to use anticipation. We live in an immediate gratification kind of world. Why do we have to feed into that? Why do we try to pack so many mediocre events into our calendars to feed the immediate monster that we neglect the anticipation that one amazing project, event, or service can bring? Anticipation is brought on by careful planning recruiting, and promotion. When we plan, recruit, and promote we use time to allow momentum to build. People begin to anticipate what is going to happen. Anticipation brings energy and excitement. The part we can learn from Disney is that the experience has to meet and hopefully exceed what was anticipated! This is also where we can move beyond anything we see here on earth. We are creating services, events, and projects that help people engage the heart of God. We are creating space where people can encounter God! I think the anticipation is worth it. The Bible says in the book of Psalms...

¹⁴ Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord Psalm 27:14 (NLT)