“Follow
God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others,
following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice
to take away your sins. And God was
pleased because the sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him.” Ephesians 5:1,2
Sacrifice. If someone were to offer me a penny for my
thoughts, I would say that my mind is currently preoccupied with that
word. My husband and I are preparing to
send our oldest off to college in a few short months. We have been looking at the financial aid
package he has been offered. He has
received some fine scholarships and grants.
However, we all know that college is an investment, and he will still
owe a considerable amount to the institution he has decided to attend. As parents, we want to provide him with what
help we can so he isn’t overwhelmed with the burden of debt after he earns his
degree. We have been talking a lot about
sacrifice. What can we give up? What expenses can we decrease or eliminate
from our budget? How much of our
paychecks can we afford to send to the college?
As
parents, we quickly learn about sacrifice.
We begin the parenting journey learning how to survive without a solid
good night’s sleep. As families grow,
we sacrifice cute little sporty cars for mini-vans. We sacrifice decorator show-room living rooms
as they get taken over by toys and other childish clutter. We sacrifice privacy in the bathroom when the
personal needs of small children must be dealt with immediately. Personal time disappears as we become
occupied with driving to team sports, activities, lessons, and play dates. We sacrifice our sanity when trying to reason
with toddlers and adolescents and also when helping with certain homework
assignments. You get the idea. We sacrifice…endlessly.
The
word sacrifice implies something that is difficult to do. It is giving up something for a higher
purpose – maybe a cause or a person we consider to be of higher value than that
which we relinquish. Sacrifice typically
isn’t pleasant, but it is an act that stems from love and honor. In the context of parenthood, we sacrifice on
a daily basis. We may not always do so perfectly
without grumbling and complaint. It’s
not easy to act selflessly, but we put our children’s needs before our own
because it is for their benefit.
Parenting
gives us a wonderful illustration of our relationship with our Creator. Our Heavenly Father sacrificed his son for
the benefit of his dear children. Out of
love for the Father, Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice –his life for our
redemption. We, as children of God, are
filled with loving gratitude. We learn
from and try to follow the example of Christ.
This means we give of ourselves, sacrificing for our children.
Dear
Father, help us to care for our children, not indulging them, but giving them
what they need. Please provide us with
the resources to do so, and help us to give joyfully of what we have been
given. Thank you for giving us the
richest of blessings through the sacrifice of your son.
That is such a thoughtful post, Heather. You are doing HIS will with yours and His children, for sure. You will be honored.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Nancy
Heather,
ReplyDeleteI'm not too sure how the Reply feature on the comment section of our blogs work, so I have come here to reply again to your request. I am the person that wrote the little rhyme about the Party in a Bag. I am very flattered that you might want to use it and pass it on to you to use (and perhaps upgrade).
There was a time when we had two children in private colleges. We are both teachers (I'm retired now.), so you know our income was modest. My husband taught extra classes and I tutored after school - four nights a week. I remember my husband saying something a few days after our second was accepted to college. It was in December, when money always seems tighter than usual. He said we were lucky to both want the same things for our children. What he was referring to, of course, was the fact that we would have to tighten or belts even more in order to afford to send another child clear across country in the fall. but that we weren't talking about whether or not we should, but rather, just how we were going to do it. That's funny really. It never occurred to us to discuss such things when we were courting. Well, like he said, we were lucky to have been of the same mind set. I think that's what made our sacrifice not really seem like a sacrifice. We both had our eye on the same goals.
You will manage. HE will help, opening a window or two of opportunities and strengthening the soul. Congratulations to your son. How nice it is to get some financial help. It's always a good thing for a young person to see that their hard work does, indeed, pay off.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Parenting adds so much dimension to the verse about being a living sacrifice doesn't it? How wonderful that we have such an example in Christ of doing it well!
ReplyDelete