Dollar Store Faith

I've never read the popular book about learning people's love languages, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that for my daughter, Betsy, love is communicated with gifts. (This is a valuble hint for future admirers!) To her credit, she likes to give gifts as much as she likes to receive them. Not a birthday or holiday passes without her wanting Jack or me to take her shopping. It was probably about two years ago that Betsy approached me about my upcoming big day.

"Mom, what do you want for your birthday? You can have whatever you want. Think about it, Mom, what is the best thing you wish for this year?"

There was a long pause as I was trying to think of what to tell her, and then came the gamechanger, "Mom, whatever you'd like from the dollar store, I'd be happy to buy for you."

Not that I thought my daughter, at age six, could afford much more, but I have to admit that when challenged to come up with "whatever" I want for my birthday, the dollar store hadn't figured into the equation.

Let's consider the modern day dollar store phenomena. On one hand, I love them. It's the greatest place to go for cheap party supplies, cards, and especially stuff to fill kid's Easter baskets and Christmas stockings. But the sad reality is that most of my $1 purchases end up in the trash can within days of leaving the store. They create an initial thrill in my children's lives but are quickly broken, used up, or cast aside for me to trip over or the toddler to chew on. The dollar store is great if you have your expectations appropriately placed (low).

Expectations are everything, they say. When Abe was less than one year old, our family decided to make our first family vacation to Florida and surprise my parents who were spending time there at a state park. We wouldn't have normally made the trip. It seemed too expensive, too long of a drive with four young kids, basically too much work for us. But my mom had terminal cancer and we were afraid this may be her last vacation to this long-time Zeller family favorite spot. We decided to go for it, and just adjusted our expectations accordingly. Jack and I figured we'd spend our time keeping our kids from drowning in the Gulf of Mexico, making sure our condo beds are sand-free, and return home more exhausted than we were now. So, when Abe screamed for the first oh, say nine hours of the trip, it pretty much just met our expectations. When we got turned around in the Florida panhandle and added several hours to our drive, we kept our cool and kept going. Things were happening according to our expectations, so we weren't upset at all. In the end, we actually ended up having a wonderful time. The kids had a blast, my parents were surprised and thrilled to see us, and Jack and I had some nice down-time. In retrospect, we seriously aren't sure if it was really that great of a time, or if it just exceeded our terribly low expectations!

It's rather tempting to go through life setting our expectation dial to low. It seems easier and less stressful. I won't get my feelings hurt so much if I just expect less from my relationships. I won't get so angry with my kids if I lower my expectations and I'll be pleasantly surprised when they do more. Reigning in our expectations certainly seems like a safer and more secure way to navigate life.

I've realized there are times I've taken this approach to my relationship with God. The disappointments and hurts of life are sometimes too much to reconcile with a loving God. If I expect from God what I expect from my dollar store birthday gift, those difficult and heart-wrenching life experiences don't hurt quite so bad. After all, I didn't expect much from Him.
It's playing it safe with dollar store faith. But I'm afraid the quality of my faith and my relationship with God suffers from the same low standard as the $1 kite stuck out in my oak tree.

The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 3:20, "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

If God's word is truth (John 17:17) then I have to believe that playing it safe with low expectations isn't His plan. I'm coming to see that the times I've done this, I may have succeeded in protecting myself, but I've also missed out on seeing God's power. God sets the bar high when it comes to His character and reliability, and He wants us to have the faith to believe it and expect it.

Paul was so bold as to say, "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death." (Ph 1:20)

I don't think that kind of faith was purchased for a buck.