My diagnosis

I was in the backseat of my parent's car on the way home from the doctor. The doctor diagnosed me with dystonia and he wanted me to see a child neurologist at Winston-Salem Hospital. I was thrilled!
At five years old, I had no idea the lives of the people I loved the most had been altered forever with this diagnosis. My brother would no longer feel like he was crazy, and my parents had a name and hope for a cure.
Although my parents were excited for my brother and cousin, they were worried about me. But I had tuned them out; I was going to the hospital! YES!
My excitement was caused by what my six year old cousin told me. She had her tonsils removed a few months before, and she confided that they give you all the ice cream you wanted; she had her mother's attention; she liked the hospital because everyone was so nice! Is it any wonder I was excited to go? I believed being hospitalized was the greatest thing since apple pie!
Needless to say, the hospital didn't live up to my expectations. It was a dreary, frightening, and lonely place. Some very ill children suddenly surrounded me and I was one of them. Where was the fun? What happened to the royal treatment? I wanted my ice cream!!!!!!!!
Have you ever noticed that reality rarely has basis in fantasy? Often we are either bitterly disappointed or extremely pleasantly surprised at reality.
Adam and Eve had a similar problem. God said not to eat the fruit from two trees. But the serpent told them they would not die, but their eyes would be opened and they would become like God. (Gen. 3:4-5) What a tempting offer! How could one resist the urge to become like God? I can imagine Adam and Eve thinking now why would God forbid that? Maybe God was holding something from them.
The reality of the situation stunned them, I'm sure. After partaking of the fruit, their eyes were opened indeed! These people were deceived into believing life would be great when in reality their actions were extremely bad.
We tend to have expectations of any given situation; it is a human reaction. However expectations and reality rarely meet. Rather, we should be living in the moment.
Are we living for God at the moment or ourselves?

Jill Good