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From the Editor From the Editor

Hope Doesn't Disappoint

By Darla Knoth

Of all the parenting joys and sorrows, one of the hardest for me is when one of my sons experiences disappointment. Maybe an event he was looking forward to was cancelled, maybe his team lost a baseball game, maybe a friend promised a birthday party, but the invitation never came. Watching disappointment spread across a child's face can be heart-wrenching, and I sometimes go to great lengths to insure that my children are not disappointed. Frankly, sometimes I only want to avoid how badly they might react to being disappointed.

But sometimes, I see the best in my children when they face disappointment. My "mother's heart" is most encouraged when I see my sons overcome disappointment with understanding. My benchmark for measuring their maturity is when they learn to accept disappointment with grace. It's an "Aha! He's growing up!" moment in the parenting life.

And when they don't accept disappointment well? Those can be the moments when together we experience our best teaching and learning.

Maybe that's how God feels about the disappointments His children bear. As adults, what disappoints us now, of course, is of much more consequence than when we were children. Yet God can and does speak to us through our disappointments. And I can't help but think He's watching for the same signs of maturity in us that we might watch for in our children. Romans 5:3-5 says, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Just as we strive to avoid disappointment for our children, I like to think God also goes to great lengths sometimes so we will not be disappointed. Be encouraged that God has sent the Holy Spirit to bring us hope. But the issue is not avoiding disappointment altogether, since we know it is inevitable. Rather, it is how we react when we experience it.

I want God to be able to say about me, "Aha! She is 'growing up'; she can handle disappointment!" How about you?

Darla KnothDARLA KNOTH serves as Managing Editor for the national Women’s Ministries Department. She has experience in editing, publishing and overseeing the publications staff of Women’s Ministries, as well as serving as an adjunct faculty member at Evangel University.

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