As we were wrapping up last month’s Sabbatical Journey Course zoom, one of the participants said, “I want to talk about expectations at our next meeting.”
I asked him if he’d heard of the book Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission. He hadn’t. Now, don’t let the “women” lull you into thinking this book doesn’t have something to offer to each of us!
First published in 2010 and written by Sue Eenigenburg and Robynn Bliss, this is my go-to book when it comes to expectations and cross-cultural service. It might be considered an oldie, but it most definitely is a goodie!
If you haven’t heard of us, please get a copy right now. In preparation for this month’s Sabbatical Journey Course zoom, I pulled the book out yesterday and was reminded of the wisdom it contains. The book is based on research conducted by Sue with Robynn providingpersonal anecdotes to flesh out the points.
The book covers six areas related to expectations:
1. Expectations and Yourself
2. Expectations and Your Sending Church
3. Expectations and Your Agency
4. Expectations and Fellow Cross-Cultural Workers
5. Expectations and National Friends and Host Culture
6. Expectations and God
I’d forgotten that the book comes with a 34-question resource that you can use to gauge your own expectations you have of yourself. In addition, the chapter on Expectations and God also touches on when God disappoints.
Maybe because the book has been around “so long,” it’s easy to assume that everyone’s heard of it. If you haven’t heard of Expectations and Burnout before now, no worries and welcome to the party. This is a book you’re going to want to add to your library.
Shout out other books in the comments that might have been around for a while and are worth reading.
