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Midweek Blast of Epiphany Light
August 12, 2015
Dealing with Disappointment
Every other year my family, all five of us, travel to Oregon for a summer trip.  It isn't easy getting five people packed and loaded on a plane to fly across the country yet I grew up on the Oregon Coast and I still consider Oregon home.  I want to share that experience with my wife and kids; I hope to create the same memories for them that I have from my childhood, and every year the weather lets me down.  
For those of you who have a Baywatch idea of the beach, that doesn't exist in Oregon.  It may be 80s and 90s in Portland, which is just 85 miles away, but it will be cold, cloudy and windy at the beach.  I lived that for 10+ years but somehow, every other year, I forget the predictable foul weather that you can bet on once you can see the ocean.  This year was no different.  I started watching the weather way too early but once the 10th day of the 10-day forecast was the same as the first day of our trip, I knew that this year was going to be different.  70s and sunny!  I didn't pack a jacket or anything other than shorts and T-shirts and I certainly didn't need a winter hat.  It was late July and it was going to be 70s and sunny.  We had a couple of days in Portland before the drive to the beach and Portland was unseasonably warm (upper 90s, verging toward 100). But it was going to be nice at the beach!  We had the AC running almost the entire drive until we could smell the ocean air.  Then it was time to open up the windows and let the cool air fill the car.  It didn't feel like 70 but that was probably just the wind.  We pulled into the driveway of the house we had rented the previous two trips and, upon opening the car doors, we were greeted by my old friend - the bitterly cold wind of the Pacific Ocean.  I immediately called my sister in Portland (hoping she hadn't left yet) and asked her to bring me a winter hat. 
I was bitterly disappointed.  Not only had I not packed enough warm clothes, everything that I had hoped and planned for seemed to go into a tailspin.  It was too cold to be on the beach, let alone get in the water, and even if it was warmer the wind was howling so strong the blowing sand actually stung your bare skin (because, remember, I packed only shorts).  My attitude took the express train to negative town.  Everything was ruined and it was my fault.  We spent all this money on plane tickets and we spent an entire day flying 3000 miles, and now we are stuck in the house because it's too cold to go to the beach.  The kids are going to hate it.  We should've done something else.  I lived here for 10 years, we had traveled to the Oregon coast as a family three times before this trip, how did I ever deceive myself into thinking that it actually was going to be 70s and sunny?  I knew that but I didn't want to believe it.  This trip was going to be different, this trip was going to be the one where they take the picture that ends up on the postcard.  This was going to be perfect. 
How do you deal with disappointment?  The job that didn't pan out, the relationship that fell apart, the friend that let you down.  What do you do with that?  What about when God lets you down?  What about the time that God didn't answer your prayer exactly how you wanted it answered?  What about the person who died decades before they should have, or the jerk who made the team, got the lead in the play or the promotion that you deserved?  Where is God when those things happen?  Does God just not like you?  Have you done something to deserve this? 
Just like my unrealistic expectation of the weather on the Oregon Coast, do we have unrealistic expectations of God?  Have we made God into something that God was never intended to be?  Is God really tracking how many times that email was forwarded and just waiting until 10,000 before the winning lotto numbers are sent your way?  Maybe it isn't disappointment at all, maybe our expectations are unrealistic.  Let me let you in on a secret: it is cold and/or windy on the Oregon Coast 95% of the time.  Let me let you in on a secret: when something bad happens to you it isn't because God rolled some cosmic dice and your number came up.  God isn't out to get you.  Faith isn't a vaccination and God isn't a genie in a lamp, a fortune teller or a good luck charm.  If that is who you want God to be you are going to be disappointed.  Let me tell you who God is.  God is the one who sits with you when the bad things happen, God is the one who sticks around to put the pieces back together, God is the one who gives us hope when the world says give up.  God isn't in the forwarded email or social media post, but God is there when your world seems to be falling apart.  
A disappointing vacation makes sense; that happens.  But if you are disappointed with God maybe it's time to take a closer look at who you are expecting God to be.  God never said life would be easy or that faith is all about feeling good, but God did promise to never leave us.  That is what gives us hope when the world lets us down and disappointment sets in.  When the job falls apart, or the relationship crumbles or the friend stabs you in the back, that isn't God - but God is there, shining light into darkness.  So, who do you want God to be?
See you in church,
Chris 
Letters of Paul sermon series concludes
Wednesdays at the Well worship is at 7 tonight; join us for the final installment of the Letters of Paul sermon series.
Imagine Wednesdays is from 5:30 to 7, with children's choir rehearsal at 6:25.
We return to our school-year schedule for Wednesdays at the Well next week - dinner at 6 pm (poppy seed chicken is the kickoff entrée), children's choir at 6:25 and worship at 7, when Pastor Chris begins a new sermon series based on messages from Old Testament prophets.
Carnival food, wet fun this Sunday afternoon
Just four more days to kickoff! Epiphany begins a new season of ministry this Sunday and we're celebrating with a family carnival after worship, from noon to 3 pm. Come prepared to get wet! (And bring a towel too.)
Download the flyer for more information and to pass along. This is a great time to invite a friend!
Sunday begins new season of faith formation
With school now back in session, Epiphany's Sunday mornings begin a renewed season of faith formation. We hope everyone will join us for Sunday school this Sunday! All groups will begin in the worship center with the monthly community opening. Then we'll gather downstairs in age-specific groups for faith formation time. Here's the line-up:
Spark! - pre-K, kindergarten & 1st, 2nd & 3rd, 4th & 5th
CIA - middle school
Real Time - high school
The Wired Word - adults (note the downstairs location)
Thanks to last night's dinner team!
Epiphany served dinner to our neighbors at Rainbow Village last night, fulfilling our promise to prepare and serve an evening meal for residents every month. Our team -- joined by volunteers from Gwinnett Medical -- was the first group to serve a meal from the kitchen of the new Community Center on Rainbow Village's Duluth campus. Many thanks to the team who served last night!
We're now signing up people to serve the upcoming monthly meals - September 8 and October 13 (second Tuesdays of the month). Please contact the Outreach Team if you'd like to be on the dinner team. 
 
Epiphany Lutheran Church
1350 Peachtree Industrial Blvd.
Suwanee, GA  30024
770-831-1966