Rick and Lauren begin their conversation this week by sharing what life looks like for them right now as far as how COVID-19 has affected the normal, routine things that happen around this time of year for them. The conversation then turns to how this time in our lives with the pandemic can lead to feelings of disappointment. Lauren discloses that she has been disappointed several times throughout the pandemic because of things like canceled plans or vacation. Rick agrees that he has been and seen disappointment as well, and talks about a young high school student he knows who plays basketball who wasn't able to play for the state championship because of COVID-19.

Lauren voices that everyone has disappointments, and we can't categorize one person's disappointment as bigger or more important than someone else's; everyone has to deal with the loss or grief from their disappointment. Rick then references an article in the Harvard Business Review about disappointment.

Rick warns against disappointment taking root in our hearts and affecting us negatively. He says that by allowing this to happen, it can cause us to have unrealistic relationships and expectations, and can even make us unable to see how God is at work in our lives. Rick expresses that it's good to live with our disappointments because they are a window into what our expectations are. Rick then references two different people: Martin Luther King Jr. and Lysa TerKeurst.

Rick compares going through life with disappointments and learning to trust Jesus instead to climbing a tree; you learn that you have to test each branch and quickly find out that none of the smaller branches can hold your weight, only Jesus can hold you.

Rick wraps up the episode by sharing a story about Teresa his wife telling him, "The day I realized I was in love with you, I was so disappointed."

In the upcoming weeks, Rick and Lauren will be doing a Q&A-style episode, so send any questions you might have for this episode to Lauren at lmorgan@fellowshipknox.org or Rick at rdunn@fellowshipknox.org, or find Lauren or Rick on social media.

For more information on this podcast, visit podcast.fellowshipknox.org