The Broken Gift: Hopes deferred

Who here hates getting the thing that ends up not working? Can I see a show of hands? 

 I had been pining for years for a nespresso machine. I remember my first experience. I was visiting my wonderful cousins in Connecticut. My amazing cousin Cindy asked, "would you like a latte?" 

Um... yes, please! One sip and I was hooked. Having been a barista at Starbucks, another lifetime ago, I learned to appreciate and flavor and savor a truly great espresso. 

I had to learn to manually pull shots. It wasn't this whole push button thing. It was fresh ground espresso coffee that you had to tamp down. Not too hard and not too soft. You didn't want to let it run too long or too short. Totally affected the flavor. So yes. espresso matters people. And when I sipped my latte up in New England.. I thought.. oh my goodness. I've died and gone to heaven... great coffee. 

 So back to the pining.

So when I was asked recently what I want for Christmas... I thought big... I thought Nespresso machine. The one with the aeroccino machine so I could foam milk... lattes, cappuccinos... dreams come true, right?! 

 And glory of glories...it came... 2 days before Christmas... in all it's beautiful cherry red glory. So excited.

 We pulled it out of the box Christmas Eve and had it all set to go Christmas morning. The anticipation was nearly killing me. 

 I awoke alas, without a spring in my step... I had been wrapping presents for the last month yet there was still more to do... even though I had been up til 1:30 wrapping... what with 5 kids and lots of people to love... there was still more. All the kids presents to each other had not been wrapped. So I was a bit grumpy... nothing that coffee couldn't fix right?! 

So I wrapped but with expectation that my caffeine fix was near! 

 But it was not to be. The kids had all gathered and we told them before they could open gifts we were going to have coffee. Mama was going to use her Christmas gift!!! 

 We tried. We really did. We walked through every step. We cleaned the system. No luck. We returned it to factory setting. Nope. Nothing. After 45 minute attempt we let it go. My brother-in-law had a Nespresso machine. Surely he could help us in the afternoon. More trying. Attempts. Factory setting. Again.. no espresso, single or double, or coffee. 

 So there I am cooking dinner a couple days later while texting back and forth with customer support on Amazon to troubleshoot. And it ended up after 30 minutes the tech gave up and was like... return the machine... you will get a new one by February 21, 2021... Whaaaaaat? 

This thing I had been waiting for. Hoping for. Excited about. Deferred for another 7+ weeks. 

 Here I find myself putting my hope in a dumb machine. But disappointmet is real. We've all been there right?! We get excited about something that lets us down. I am once again reminded... to not put my hope in something that fades, rusts, breaks, and is easily destroyed. But instead put my hope in the Lord. He is unchanging. He doesn't fail. He doesn't let down. He does not disappoint. 

 So friends whether it's a physical thing you have been desiring.. a new home or car or job.. or an emotional one.. a relationship you had hoped would be restored... a spouse that would appear on the horizon... or would change... or a kid that would return home, or would be potty trained by now.. let's pause and stop... and put our hope in the ONE who will never let us down, never disappoint, never fade. 

So for now, we wait. Right now, we only see in part. One day we will see in full. Hang in there friends. Keep pressing into the One worthy of our hope.