Welcome to EastsideTALK!
Grace Squad Meeting
Did you hear the news? We are having a quick Grace Squad meeting immediately after service this coming Sunday! You see, our heart at Eastside has always been “to love everyone and serve anyone” and our Grace Squad is one way we hope to live that out in our neighborhood. In fact, our very own Marty Van Duessen is leading this awesome ministry but we need your help! We are looking for creative and impactful ideas for how we can serve our friends on the eastside of Rochester and beyond. Maybe it’s a free car wash, doing yard work for a neighbor in need, or filling backpacks for local students. There is so much we can do to share the love of Jesus by serving like Jesus! So if you have a few minutes to spend with us on Sunday, we would love to hear your ideas or just have you present to show support. We can’t wait to see you there. God is on the move! Let’s move with him!
“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have
shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them." - Hebrews 6:10
Revealing Expectations
All day long my jeans felt funny-especially around my left calf. “Gee whiz…do these pants not fit me anymore? Time to lay off the peanut butter cups!” I thought to myself. Then the thought occurred to me, “Maybe it’s not the jeans.” I reached down and from the bottom of my pant leg I pulled out a crumpled up dryer sheet. Oh, did I mention this was in the middle of the grocery store? Yeah, that happened. There I was, standing between the bananas and the potatoes, holding a dryer sheet in one hand and a kiwi in the other. #embarrassingmoment.
I share this story (at my own expense…haha!) not only to give you a good laugh but to illustrate something called hidden expectations. You see, we all have expectations for just about everything in life, don’t we? We expect our spouses to love and respect us. We expect God to take care of us. We expect our cars to start when we turn the key in the ignition. We expect our employers to pay us. And we expect dryer sheets to stay in the dryer…not in our jeans!
But most of us also carry around these hidden expectations. And the problem with hidden expectations is, well, they’re hidden. We may not have ever really identified that they were there or were even a thing for us. So when these hidden expectations are not met, we become disappointed and may not even know why. For instance, maybe we expect our husband to have the house clean when we get home from work or expect our best friend to text or call us at least once a week. When others don’t meet these expectations, we become disappointed or maybe even hurt and angry. However, until we identify these hidden expectations and communicate them to others, we will probably continue to feel disappointed and it may be causing more damage to some of our relationships than we may realize. When we do identify those hidden expectations we then need to evaluate if they are realistic, fair, and healthy.
So what are some hidden expectations you may be carrying for yourself and for others? What about expectations for life and for the places you invest your time, energy, and resources? Have you identified them and in love shared them with others? I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to help reveal them to you and bring what is hidden into the light. Oh…and before you put your pants on…check for dryer sheets! You can thank me later!
“The unfolding of your words give light;
it gives understanding to the simple.” - Psalm 119:130
We hope you have a great rest of the week and we'll see you Sunday!
Grace Squad Meeting
Did you hear the news? We are having a quick Grace Squad meeting immediately after service this coming Sunday! You see, our heart at Eastside has always been “to love everyone and serve anyone” and our Grace Squad is one way we hope to live that out in our neighborhood. In fact, our very own Marty Van Duessen is leading this awesome ministry but we need your help! We are looking for creative and impactful ideas for how we can serve our friends on the eastside of Rochester and beyond. Maybe it’s a free car wash, doing yard work for a neighbor in need, or filling backpacks for local students. There is so much we can do to share the love of Jesus by serving like Jesus! So if you have a few minutes to spend with us on Sunday, we would love to hear your ideas or just have you present to show support. We can’t wait to see you there. God is on the move! Let’s move with him!
“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have
shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them." - Hebrews 6:10
Revealing Expectations
All day long my jeans felt funny-especially around my left calf. “Gee whiz…do these pants not fit me anymore? Time to lay off the peanut butter cups!” I thought to myself. Then the thought occurred to me, “Maybe it’s not the jeans.” I reached down and from the bottom of my pant leg I pulled out a crumpled up dryer sheet. Oh, did I mention this was in the middle of the grocery store? Yeah, that happened. There I was, standing between the bananas and the potatoes, holding a dryer sheet in one hand and a kiwi in the other. #embarrassingmoment.
I share this story (at my own expense…haha!) not only to give you a good laugh but to illustrate something called hidden expectations. You see, we all have expectations for just about everything in life, don’t we? We expect our spouses to love and respect us. We expect God to take care of us. We expect our cars to start when we turn the key in the ignition. We expect our employers to pay us. And we expect dryer sheets to stay in the dryer…not in our jeans!
But most of us also carry around these hidden expectations. And the problem with hidden expectations is, well, they’re hidden. We may not have ever really identified that they were there or were even a thing for us. So when these hidden expectations are not met, we become disappointed and may not even know why. For instance, maybe we expect our husband to have the house clean when we get home from work or expect our best friend to text or call us at least once a week. When others don’t meet these expectations, we become disappointed or maybe even hurt and angry. However, until we identify these hidden expectations and communicate them to others, we will probably continue to feel disappointed and it may be causing more damage to some of our relationships than we may realize. When we do identify those hidden expectations we then need to evaluate if they are realistic, fair, and healthy.
So what are some hidden expectations you may be carrying for yourself and for others? What about expectations for life and for the places you invest your time, energy, and resources? Have you identified them and in love shared them with others? I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to help reveal them to you and bring what is hidden into the light. Oh…and before you put your pants on…check for dryer sheets! You can thank me later!
“The unfolding of your words give light;
it gives understanding to the simple.” - Psalm 119:130
We hope you have a great rest of the week and we'll see you Sunday!