I remember sitting on the dock talking to my friend about work. I was seven or so months pregnant with my first born working full-time as an elementary school teacher and going to school to get my Masters degree. My friend recently had a baby of his own and was telling me that I would not want to work once my baby arrived. I was adamant that I would work even with kids. I was going to school to further my career for goodness sakes. There was no way I was going to sacrifice my job. I thought I could do it all: marriage, babies, career. And then Jackson was born and absolutely rocked my world. I will never forget going back to work. I cried every single day when I got to work. My fellow working mom friends said it would get easier but it never did. I would rush to see him on my lunch hour and could not wait to pick him up when I got off. Every night when I came home and began preparing us for the next day I knew something had to give. I wanted to give 100% to my son and 100% to my students but life isn't that easy. A sacrifice was going to happen. I just had to choose which one.
About a month after returning to work, Scott received a phone call about a job transfer. The move would enable me to stay home if I so desired. After about eight months or so of praying, flying back and forth from California to Texas to look at properties and see if the area was the right fit, and countless discussions, I decided to quit teaching and we moved halfway across the country to Texas. Never in a million years did I think I would sacrifice my career or my home for this little 8 pound baby. But I did. And it was the best decision we ever made. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
We live in a world where no one wants to make anyone uncomfortable. If we have to struggle or sacrifice, we fight to find a way to ease the burden. We would rather lose our marriage than change ourselves because it is too hard to sacrifice something about me for another. We don't discipline our kids because we don't want to deal with the consequence of tears and a moment when our kids may not like us. We leave our job, schools, homes, churches all because we don't want to give up a little of ourselves not realizing that staying the course will make life better and easier in the end. The road may hurt and be bumpy with many twists and turns but the finish line is so good. Yet, we miss the prize because the work is too hard. We have to give up what we think we want, what we think is best for us, in order to get to the end so we don't try at all leaving us empty, alone, and searching.
I was talking to my friend about faith in relation to world events and social anomalies. I love and respect this friend for so many reasons but I think I may love her most because we can have conversations about faith loving and respecting one another even though we absolutely do not agree on the matter. We don't just listen to one another, we hear each other. We understand where the other is coming from even though our visions and beliefs are different. It's so good. We were talking about Christianity and the Bible and the one thing that stumps her is the restrictions of the faith. She doesn't want one book to tell her what to do. She believes that everyone should go to Heaven and no one should be told they can't do this or that. She is a morally upright person. If you didn't know better, you would think she were a Christian. However, she wants others to be able to love who they want to love and live the way the want to live and still have the ability to go to Heaven. The restrictions and parameters of the faith are too limiting. While she believes thou shall not kill and such, there should be many roads to Heaven.
I get it. I completely get it. I understand her thinking. How difficult is it to look in the eyes of someone you love and know in your heart that they will not go to Heaven because of choices they have made; seemingly good and harmless choices? How can you tell someone you can't love that person or live that way? That's hard and sounds awfully judgmental. I remember in high school when I decided to follow Christ I was so scared of what I would lose. I thought I would have no friends and never find a boyfriend. I would be an outcast. I almost didn't follow through in my faith because I was afraid of the sacrifices I would have to make. I ended up following Christ and still had friends.
We don't like discomfort. We would rather miss an opportunity than be uncomfortable. Everyone gets a trophy even if they don't deserve it. We've grown accustomed to acceptance even when it endangers us because it's comfortable and easy. When we choose to live for ourselves and this life not realizing that some of the sacrifices we may have to make in order to follow Christ are good for us and will lead us to a better life, we are choosing death. We aren't just choosing a physical death, but a spiritual death; a life filled with voids that cannot be filled and an emptiness that never wavers. We may feel fulfilled for a moment only to wake-up empty again.
Christ calls for an abundant life; a life filled with freedom and peace. We can't wrap our heads around that freedom when we are caught up in the sacrifices we would have to make to follow Him. We would rather remain stuck living for this life not realizing that this isn't it. Eternity awaits yet we want to live today as if this is Heaven. I remember crying knowing that I needed to break up with Scott. He wasn't a believer when we first started dating and I knew if we remained together we would have troubles ahead. But man, I loved him so. I couldn't imagine life without him. So, I cried at least once a week over it and stressed myself out. It wasn't until he broke up with me did I realize that that was truly the right decision. And you know what, being apart from Scott sucked. There's no better way to say it. I hated our time apart but absolutely whole-heartedly knew it was the right thing. I dove into my faith because I couldn't grab onto anything else. I remember falling to my knees in the tiny hallway of my little college apartment bawling my eyes out to God telling Him I couldn't do it anymore. I gave up and gave it to Him. Eight months later Scott was back in my life a believer coming to know Jesus all on His own. God knew. The road to that moment was full of sacrifices I had to make and absolutely didn't want to but man, it was SO worth it. I wish I would have listened earlier to avoid the stress and pain I caused myself. The sacrifice was worth it, friends. God has blessed my marriage richly and I know in the depths of my soul part of that is because I sacrificed for Him.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 There is an abundant life waiting for us. All we have to do is drop our pride, drop our desires, drop ourselves, and follow Him. We believe the thief too often. We believe that we deserve things in this life. We don't. We don't deserve a thing. Christ was nailed to a cross, NAILED, for our mistakes. He was beaten, His skin torn and ripped. He was mocked and brutally beaten for you and for me and yet we feel and live entitled. How can we not make a few sacrifices to follow Him?
We have freedom in Christ. When we come to Him, nothing else owns us. We are free of sin, of addiction, anger, hurt, insecurities, abuse, voids, emptiness. He fills us. He fills our holes and replaces our sacrifices with His love. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything." Don't let this life have a hold on you. There are many things that I can do but are not good for me. I sacrifice every day (probably not enough) for my boys, my husband, my friends, family, and my faith. And you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world. I am so much more fulfilled and full of life because of the sacrifices I make. This is so backwards for the time we live in but so necessary to live abundantly and free in His peace and His presence.
"While the Bible may seem restricting, the truth is, there is freedom in the sacrifice. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." Galatians 3:22
"In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Ephesians 3:12
"In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free." Psalm 118:5
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17
Love & Blessings,
Meg
About a month after returning to work, Scott received a phone call about a job transfer. The move would enable me to stay home if I so desired. After about eight months or so of praying, flying back and forth from California to Texas to look at properties and see if the area was the right fit, and countless discussions, I decided to quit teaching and we moved halfway across the country to Texas. Never in a million years did I think I would sacrifice my career or my home for this little 8 pound baby. But I did. And it was the best decision we ever made. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
We live in a world where no one wants to make anyone uncomfortable. If we have to struggle or sacrifice, we fight to find a way to ease the burden. We would rather lose our marriage than change ourselves because it is too hard to sacrifice something about me for another. We don't discipline our kids because we don't want to deal with the consequence of tears and a moment when our kids may not like us. We leave our job, schools, homes, churches all because we don't want to give up a little of ourselves not realizing that staying the course will make life better and easier in the end. The road may hurt and be bumpy with many twists and turns but the finish line is so good. Yet, we miss the prize because the work is too hard. We have to give up what we think we want, what we think is best for us, in order to get to the end so we don't try at all leaving us empty, alone, and searching.
I was talking to my friend about faith in relation to world events and social anomalies. I love and respect this friend for so many reasons but I think I may love her most because we can have conversations about faith loving and respecting one another even though we absolutely do not agree on the matter. We don't just listen to one another, we hear each other. We understand where the other is coming from even though our visions and beliefs are different. It's so good. We were talking about Christianity and the Bible and the one thing that stumps her is the restrictions of the faith. She doesn't want one book to tell her what to do. She believes that everyone should go to Heaven and no one should be told they can't do this or that. She is a morally upright person. If you didn't know better, you would think she were a Christian. However, she wants others to be able to love who they want to love and live the way the want to live and still have the ability to go to Heaven. The restrictions and parameters of the faith are too limiting. While she believes thou shall not kill and such, there should be many roads to Heaven.
I get it. I completely get it. I understand her thinking. How difficult is it to look in the eyes of someone you love and know in your heart that they will not go to Heaven because of choices they have made; seemingly good and harmless choices? How can you tell someone you can't love that person or live that way? That's hard and sounds awfully judgmental. I remember in high school when I decided to follow Christ I was so scared of what I would lose. I thought I would have no friends and never find a boyfriend. I would be an outcast. I almost didn't follow through in my faith because I was afraid of the sacrifices I would have to make. I ended up following Christ and still had friends.
We don't like discomfort. We would rather miss an opportunity than be uncomfortable. Everyone gets a trophy even if they don't deserve it. We've grown accustomed to acceptance even when it endangers us because it's comfortable and easy. When we choose to live for ourselves and this life not realizing that some of the sacrifices we may have to make in order to follow Christ are good for us and will lead us to a better life, we are choosing death. We aren't just choosing a physical death, but a spiritual death; a life filled with voids that cannot be filled and an emptiness that never wavers. We may feel fulfilled for a moment only to wake-up empty again.
Christ calls for an abundant life; a life filled with freedom and peace. We can't wrap our heads around that freedom when we are caught up in the sacrifices we would have to make to follow Him. We would rather remain stuck living for this life not realizing that this isn't it. Eternity awaits yet we want to live today as if this is Heaven. I remember crying knowing that I needed to break up with Scott. He wasn't a believer when we first started dating and I knew if we remained together we would have troubles ahead. But man, I loved him so. I couldn't imagine life without him. So, I cried at least once a week over it and stressed myself out. It wasn't until he broke up with me did I realize that that was truly the right decision. And you know what, being apart from Scott sucked. There's no better way to say it. I hated our time apart but absolutely whole-heartedly knew it was the right thing. I dove into my faith because I couldn't grab onto anything else. I remember falling to my knees in the tiny hallway of my little college apartment bawling my eyes out to God telling Him I couldn't do it anymore. I gave up and gave it to Him. Eight months later Scott was back in my life a believer coming to know Jesus all on His own. God knew. The road to that moment was full of sacrifices I had to make and absolutely didn't want to but man, it was SO worth it. I wish I would have listened earlier to avoid the stress and pain I caused myself. The sacrifice was worth it, friends. God has blessed my marriage richly and I know in the depths of my soul part of that is because I sacrificed for Him.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 There is an abundant life waiting for us. All we have to do is drop our pride, drop our desires, drop ourselves, and follow Him. We believe the thief too often. We believe that we deserve things in this life. We don't. We don't deserve a thing. Christ was nailed to a cross, NAILED, for our mistakes. He was beaten, His skin torn and ripped. He was mocked and brutally beaten for you and for me and yet we feel and live entitled. How can we not make a few sacrifices to follow Him?
We have freedom in Christ. When we come to Him, nothing else owns us. We are free of sin, of addiction, anger, hurt, insecurities, abuse, voids, emptiness. He fills us. He fills our holes and replaces our sacrifices with His love. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything." Don't let this life have a hold on you. There are many things that I can do but are not good for me. I sacrifice every day (probably not enough) for my boys, my husband, my friends, family, and my faith. And you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world. I am so much more fulfilled and full of life because of the sacrifices I make. This is so backwards for the time we live in but so necessary to live abundantly and free in His peace and His presence.
"While the Bible may seem restricting, the truth is, there is freedom in the sacrifice. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." Galatians 3:22
"In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Ephesians 3:12
"In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free." Psalm 118:5
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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