Elf on the Shelf
A story about the subtle yet powerful difference between expectations and expectancy.
Expectations and expectancy. They almost sound the same. They start off in the same direction. But as you dig deeper, you realize they lead very different paths.
Let's break it down.
Now when I think of the word expectant, I can't help but think about my daughter with our Christmas Elf on the Shelf tradition. It's almost the same as the classic Christmas tradition but with a twist. The elf has a friend, the shepherd boy, and their goal is to find baby Jesus.
Every morning, the excitement grows as my kids discover them in random places throughout the house. My youngest usually wakes up first, and before she even says hi to me, she's asking if I've seen Buddy (the elf) and Rudy (the shepherd boy).
She'll walk around the house calling their names and only continue her day once she finds them.
For her, the joy in the journey is trying to find where they are that morning.
She wakes up expectant.
To be expectant is to hope that something will happen.
To have expectations is to believe that something should happen.
Expectations can be broken because they are based on what you think. But you can be expectant in all circumstances. You can hope in all seasons.
Today, let's let go of our expectations and instead replace them with expectancy.