Last weekend, my family and I had the privilege of spending time at the beach. My brother has a condo out at the end of Long Island and we love it there. It was his Christmas present to us.
The problem was that the weather did not cooperate. This was a real bummer but what could we do?
This disappointment was compounded by the fact that we have an eleven- year old surfer. He was not happy about the fact that his father did not think it was a good idea to go into the storm riddled surf. The waves started breaking a quarter of a mile out. It looked like we had just opened the lid of a giant washing machine. I am an experienced ocean swimmer and I knew these conditions were treacherous. Finally, on the last day, we decided to let him try it because try as he might to keep a good attitude, he had that hang dog look of sheer disappointment.
Into the surf he went with me watching from the shore. He was only allowed to go out as far as he could stand to insure his safety. He got up a few times for a short ride to the beach but he got out after about twenty minutes as I watched him being tossed around like a ping pong ball. He told me that the waves and the surging water were throwing him around everywhere.
To say he was satisfied after this attempt is wrong. He still was disappointed by the trip. I was too, for his sake.
How do you face disappointment? Sometimes things just don’t work out in life. Does that mean it was a failure? Of course not but it feels like failure. Sometimes things don’t work out for a greater purpose that God has. I try not to figure those things out. It only seems to make me tired.
Aside from the hidden myriad of ways that God used my son’s lack of surfing time this weekend, one way I do know of. A friend of mine had an expression that he would use when his children would be going through disappointment or difficulty, “It’s good for their character.”
I don’t like disappointment as much as the next person but if I let it do its work and not complain or rail against God because things did not turn out the way I wanted, the circumstances have a wonderful way of changing me for the better. I try to be thankful for what I have during these times and not to focus on what I did not get. It seems to help and it gets me through the disappointment.
Though it did not help my son’s disappointment, an event helped mine. On the last day, over the ocean, as the stormed passed at sunset, a beautiful double rainbow appeared in the sky.