Facing Disappointment With Grace + A Giveaway!

Hi there Friends! I hope you are all having a great week. I’ll be honest and say this week has not been my favorite. Summer is over and I’m back to work. I was in denial about the end of summer for the weeks leading up to it. I just was not ready to go back to waking up early, working at a job that, if I’m honest I don’t love.

So much of me had hoped that this year might be different. Maybe I would have found another way to make an income doing something I’m passionate about. Or perhaps I would just get bored enough over the summer that I would want to go back to my job. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was hoping, but I found myself discouraged and disappointed that I was having to go back to my job at the school.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of perks to my job (namely all the breaks). However, in the day to day, working in an office all day, scheduling meetings and handling paperwork isn’t my idea of something that really fills the soul.

Coping Mechanisms…

So like I said, I was in denial that summer was ending the weeks leading up to my return, so I created this character: Bahama Llama. I probably should have just gone back and read my own blog on “Encouragement for Making the Most of Today” but I went down the fictional character route instead. Bahama Llama isn’t ready for summer to be over either. She’s hanging on to the joys of vacation, heat waves and relaxation. 

It was funny though, as I created her I had no real biblical references to go with her. I just thought “that’d be cute!” When the time came to use the cutouts though, I found my way to Ecclesiastes. Also known as the “meaningless” book. “Everything is meaningless” is a theme throughout the book and I resonated with that as I was dreading my return. Another theme: finding satisfaction in work. Of course.

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.  Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

As I read it started to hit me how important it is to face disappointment with grace. To embrace each day for what it is, even if I haven’t achieved my goals or dreams. To remember that the best is still yet to come. But I won’t reach it if I dwell on the past or live only for the future. I have to be present, here, today. I have to be willing to put in the work today for the future I hope for.

Today I have not achieved my dream, but that doesn’t mean today is a bad day. It doesn’t mean that I cannot find things to enjoy and love today. It doesn’t mean that my attitude has to be downcast and frustrated. I can find a way to enjoy my day and keep working towards the goal. And what is the goal? To please God. That’s a goal I can strive to achieve everyday.

What disappointments are you facing? How can you face them with grace and find the good in today?

Giveaway Time!

Now as a special treat we are releasing these Bahama Llama cutout stickers in the shop today! We’re also doing a little “secret” giveaway for our blog readers because we love you. If you read our blog head over to our instagram page and enter to win a digital download of the Bahama Llama Cutout Stickers by:

1. Following us
2. Liking the post from today (8/25/17)
3. Commenting on our post from today with a palm tree emoji and one good thing about today!

Make sure you do everything on the list and you’ll be entered to win! We’ll randomly select a winner on Sunday (8/27/17) and announce it on Instagram. May the odds be ever in your favor. And SHHH… don’t tell anyone on the post what you’re up to – let’s keep this giveaway between blog readers only.