Expectations, Reality & Learning to be Thankful

I have a vivid imagination, I've had it my whole life. It makes for great entertainment as a child but when you become an adult imagination has a bad habit of raising expectations to unrealistic heights, making reality a bit of a let down. This habit, which ultimately causes me to take for granted what I have, is one I have really been working on eliminating since I became aware of it's ugly presence. I am not sorry I have an imagination, nor do I want to squelch it but I want to be appreciative of what I have, the memories I make, rather than be disappointed it wasn’t all I imagined it would be. Saturday was a great opportunity to "put my money where my mouth is" in my new efforts to change my thought patterns.....

     I love fall, love love love it. This year I became aware of a local u-pick farm's intent to put on a festival, the flier boasted "hay rides, wagon rides, children's games, zip line, petting zoo, live music and more" and promised a "wholesome family fun on the farm!" . Needless to say I was EX-CI-TED! Immediately my imagination ran wild with storybook pictures of a lovely fall day, hay and leaves strewn about, hot apple cider, picking vegetables with smiling children, etc.. etc.. you can imagine (or maybe you can't, I'm a bit over the top most of the time lol) all the picturesque things I had in mind. I marked the date, weeks in advance, and looked forward to our perfect fall day. 

     When the day arrived, I excitedly packed snacks, enough clothes to keep us warm in any fall weather and loaded my husband and kids into the car. We made our way out to Palmer, about 45 mins by the time we arrived, and found the farm tucked up against the mountains. Already my picturesque ideas were faltering...the line of people waiting to enter was LONG, David gave me with a "you know I am not a fan of loads of people crammed into small spaces" look but (thankfully) pulled into park and get in line with the rest of them. I'll be honest, just seeing the line made me want to turn around, but our kids were WAY too excited (they *might* take after their momma) and we were going, lines or no lines. 

     Without making this blog a novel, I'll sum up the situation for you. At least a thousand people, milling about a small area, lines miles long and no petting zoo anywhere to be seen. We didn't even attempt to pick any vegetables for fear of spending another hour in line (we waited nearly that long for our hayride). Old me would have lost it, disappointment ruining whatever the day may have held in it's not so perfect form, thankfully God has patiently been showing me that the old phrase "attitude is everything" really isn't bunk. I was determined to have a good time, and a good time we had, my husband too worked hard on having fun despite being inundated with people. I danced with the boys while waiting in line, took deep breaths of crisp fall air when annoyance tried to creep in and, despite spending much of the time standing around, had a joyful heart. I was thankful to have the day with my boys, thankful for the beauty I get to live in everyday, thankful for the sunshine, thankful that my shattered expectations were not going to get me down like they have so often in the past. It may not have been the perfect day I had imagined, not even close, but I cherished every minute anyway. It was a great lesson in how how thankful & joyful hearts make our reality worth every minute, even the tough stuff. As I tell my boys "a happy heart makes all the difference". 

 Here are a few snapshots from our day....

How could I not be thankful for these scrubby handsome guys?

Or this incredible beauty?