• Sacrifice

    Date: 2014.04.18 | Category: Thoughts to ponder | Tags:

    Easter weekend is upon us again.  What comes to mind when you think of Easter?  Do you think of church and family and getting together?  Do Easter egg hunts, fancy dresses, and little boys in cute ties bring a smile to your face?

    Easter should bring thoughts of gratitude for the grace that was bestowed upon us.  Easter should bring to mind what Christ endured for us.  He gave the greatest sacrifice so that we could live. Christ died and rose again so that we could be adopted into His family.  Without this sacrifice, none of us could hope to have eternal life with Him.

    I don’t know how many of you truly take this in, but for me there were many years where I got lost in the fun of Easter.  I sang the beautiful songs.  I enjoyed dressing up on Sunday morning and getting together with family.  I loved watching the little children run through the grass picking up colorful eggs.  I was grateful but I never got what Christ dying so that I could live truly meant.

    The Passion of the Christ made it all the more real for me.  I am a very visual person.  I have read the passages but somehow watching it in full color drove it all home.  I take too much for granted.  I was living my life with very little thought to what happened to make this life possible.

    I wish I could say that I have it all figured out now.  I still struggle every day but I do have one thing down.  I am obedient to His call and I know what His call sounds like.  I have had it happen enough times that I obey even when it makes no sense to me. I drag my feet and overthink everything.  I say, “No, I couldn’t possibly but I know in the end He is right and I comply.

    I can tell you that the last year has been so very hard.  I miss my mom.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could call her and tell her something the kids have done.  It has been hard to find a new normal with all our new kids.  The next six months are going to be very complicated and I, myself, don’t feel up to the task, but I know if God is calling me to it He will provide for it.

    Not long ago, I asked God what I could do for Him and what He has asked has taken me way out of my comfort zone.  He has taken us into the “only with God” zone.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I can’t but He can.  It is only through Him that I made it through this year.  It is only through Him that I am proceeding into the next six months.  I.CAN.NOT. but HE MOSTLY CERTAINLY CAN!

    I want everyone to understand that through all that you will read in the coming months, this is not because I believe I am superwoman.  It is because I am being obedient to His call.   I am fearful of what the world shows me but I am confident in what the Lord calls me to.

    I read another blog from one of the mamas I have come to know through the heart community.  Her most recent blog talks about sacrifices to God.  How many of us live our lives as a sacrifice?  How many of us live our lives in awe of all that God has done wanting to do nothing more than follow His call?  I know for years I was just existing.  I was going through the motions of living a worldly life.  It was all about me and my family.  But I get it now.  It is not about me.  It was never about me.

    In this blog, Lori says, “My desire was to one day stand before Him and be completely empty – with nothing left to give!  I spoke of my life as my offering and I intended to live it as a sacrificial gift to the God I love.”  Please take a moment and read her blog.  I believe you will be as moved as I was by her heartfelt testimony.  (BLOG)

    That is where I am at.  I don’t want to get to the end of my life and know that I could have done more.  I want to live my life to the fullest.  I want to do extreme things for the Lord.  I have asked Him “what more can I do” and God has answered.

    Who are you living your life for?  Is He calling you to do something and you are still refusing?  Why?  What are you afraid of?  There is so much joy in being obedient.  God doesn’t call you to the hard to overwhelm you.  He calls you to the hard to bless you.

    “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” – John 13:17