People like to heap their expectations onto us. And we do it to them too 🙂
But we need to remember that the only person’s expectations we need to live up to is God’s. Not man’s. For if we keep on looking for Man’s approval, we might just kill ourselves to get it 🙁
Take our homeschooling journey for example. There were people who expected us not to do well since we were homeschoolers. But what is “well”? Isn’t it all very subjective? We obeyed God’s call, set our target and when we met it, we praise God wholeheartedly.
Then there is housekeeping. People with 2 children and a live-in maid expect their homes to look a certain way and often wonder how we can live without a maid or not mop our floors everyday 😀 These people also tend to allocate one room to a child and are a little horrified to learn that we squeeze 4 and soon 5, to a room.
As a pastor’s wife, I know people expect me to behave a certain way. Same goes for our children. We are are expected not to speak out of turn, lose our tempers or have an “off-day”.
Then there is the large family expectations. From the comments I get, I think most people expect parents of large families to be rich but to look old, haggard and fat 😀
I hate to be pigeon-holed. And I hate having to meet man-made expectations. Which are often frivolous and changeable. I am human and so are my children. We make mistakes, raise our voices and heaven forbid, sometimes write rude blog posts too! Lol!
But seriously, I write this to encourage ourselves not to bow down to man’s expectations. And if God has called you to do something, obey and don’t worry about man’s expectations! Yes, I know it isn’t easy. I have been there, done that – many times 🙂 But truly obedience is better than sacrifice. (1 Samuel 15:22).
I leave you with what God spoke to me years ago when I was struggling with Him on the homeschooling issue and it has given me much strength and comfort when the going gets tough and I feel lonely walking the unfamiliar path :
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9