Just five more sleeps! For months I've anticipated attending my first District Toastmaster's (TM) Conference and the time is almost here. If the event is even as close to being as intense as my excitement, it promises to be quite the bang-up affair. Add to that the creating and re-recreating of the workshop I am privileged to present. After testing it out twice on audiences (thanks everyone who attended), I've decided to relax, do my best and enjoy it all.

On any of the many times I've checked the agenda and the workshop schedule, I see a lot of learning, leaning and lectures ahead. World champion speakers will be presenters, lots of fellow TM members will be there to share experiences and support with each other. I've no doubt that the amount of information shared will challenge my powers of retention.

This week, however, it's all about anticipation: getting away for a weekend, enjoying the luxury of a hotel room sans housework, delicious meals without preparation or clean up and visiting the area where, as a child, I used to visit my grandparents. Above all, I look forward to the possibility of new doors of opportunity opening for me. I never know what the Lord has in store for me but I'm always ready to "seize the day".

These musing may seem somewhat irrelevant except that as we live our ordinary lives, anticipation too often turns into disappointment. A powerful preposition, "except" is also a conjunction that means "if not for that fact that".

The Psalmist David described it this way: "I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." (Psalm 27:13)

When people disappoint, Jesus revives the sagging heart. When our best laid plans fall flat, His goodness remains.