Too Easily Pleased

The other week I decided to take Alaina out for lunch after picking her up from school. Whenever we ask her where she wants to go out to eat she tells us McDonald's. Usually we end up going somewhere else, leaving her quite sad and maybe a little pouty for a moment. So even though I am not a huge McDonald's fan, I decided to give her a special treat this time.

When we got in the van I told her I had a surprise for her but she had to wait until we got there to find out what it is. She was so excited the whole way. I kept thinking, "Oh yeah, number one Aunt, right here in the driver's seat. She's gonna love this."

As I start to pull in the parking lot (while preparing for uncontrollable praise along with giggles and smiles lasting the rest of the day) I look in my rear view mirror only to see a small child with a confused, not so well pleased look on her face. I ask her if she knows where we are and if she's excited and to my surprise her answer was (in a whiney, ungrateful tone),

"I wanted to go to Chucky Cheese."

Now clearly she should have been happy with her special surprise (and after we got inside she was), but looking at it in a different light, she totally had the right attitude & mindset.

In his book, The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis writes this...

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Again, Alaina had high hopes. Her desires were strong and she was not putting me in a box by thinking I would not give her the very best, as often we do with Christ. If we think about putting anybody in a box God should be last on the list...or even not on the list at all! After all, is He not perfect? Did He not create YOU and the entire WORLD in which you live? Did he not create your very best friend? Did He not give you all that you do not deserve and more? He is a good God, while we are tiny, uneducated humans who don't give Him credit by imagining He really could give us the very best.

As I try to dream bigger than this world, I hope you join me. And together we can experience the things of this world that only take place on a holiday at the sea.