A Tough Job

Being a parent is a tough job. Here’s a few quotes that illustrate the parenting adventure:

"The truth is that parents are not really interested in justice. They just want quiet." ~ Bill Cosby 

"Raising kids is part joy and part guerrilla warfare." ~ Ed Asner 

"When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out." ~ Erma Bombeck 

“Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist.”
~ Michael Levine

The last quote rings true. Just because you can give birth to, or father a child does not make you a parent. The sad truth is we have hundreds of homes in our communities with neglected, malnourished, and emotionally or physically abused children & teens. Like trying to mix oil and water, you cannot have a self-centered parent. Parenting at its core is giving up the needs and wishes of self for the health, care and provision of the child. My first realization of this fact was when we brought our precious little boy home and within the first few nights, I realized we would sacrifice sleep and quiet nights. I looked forward to going to work for rest. Later on I gave up the remote to the TV from watching Utah Jazz games to Thomas the Tank Engine and Blues Clues. I still have a few melodic phrases branded into my memory: “Blue Skadoos. We can too!…We just got a letter. We just got a letter. I wonder who it’s from”. Now, with teens I will be giving up my car.

When I think of all the sacrifices that come along with parenting, the one that stands out is letting go of the carefree, no worries life. When you bring your little bundle wrapped up in Grandma’s handmade blanket, you worry about every wrinkled face and noise. When you send them off to school, a friends house or riding the bike down the street, your pulse quickens. It takes all of your courage to release your grip on your car keys and drop them into the outstretched hand of your teen. Even when they are grown and have families of their own, your primary concern is still how they are doing.

I think that is why God gave us a reminder in the Ten Commandments to be respectful and grateful for the lifelong sacrifice our mothers and fathers have made for us.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” – Exodus 20:12

A Fruitful Life

Today is Good Friday, the day the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lamb was slain. I think about Christ’s crucifixion, and I can only imagine the physical pain He suffered through his scourge and death. I know I cannot fully comprehend the emotional burden he carried by taking on the sins of humanity, the rejection of the Father, and mortality of being human. As we read about Jesus’ interaction with others, especially the outcast, oppressed, hurting and downtrodden, we get a glimpse of the depth of His compassion for us. Throughout His 3 year tour from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem, the Son of God healed the hurting, freed the oppressed, fed the multitudes, encouraged the weak, eased the heavy burdened, and gave dignity and hope to the least of these.

Jesus entrusted the 12 chosen men from all backgrounds and walks of life to be his disciples. In John 15, Jesus gave instructions to be a true disciple you must: obey His commands, love one another, and serve. If they remain in His love as a branch of the vine of Christ, they will bear much fruit. “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” – John 15:8 The disciples were later commissioned to go, teach, preach, and baptize in the same love and compassion Christ exemplified.

This past weekend I attended a funeral service for a faithful disciple of Christ, my Aunt June. She lived her life, not just in a title of Christian, not in being religious, but in love and service to the most vulnerable in her community. In one of the most extraordinary funeral’s I have ever attended the compassion of Christ was the crown of her life. My Aunt June was remembered for her love and service to her family, church and friends, but also as a faithful disciple of Christ to the unlovable, downtrodden and neglected. She served for 25 plus years to the young men and women in juvenile detention. She served the homeless, hungry and naked at the local rescue mission for 25 years. She ministered to the men and women in prison for over 25 years. I can visualize my Aunt June sitting next to a man or woman without much hope, suffering in pain, guilt or shame, and hardened by life. I can see her listening to painful stories with a compassionate ear and tearful eyes. When she offers an encouragement of hope, to be a lifeline through friendship, and through acts of unceremonious service she is the embodiment of Christ’s compassion, a faithful disciple. What a fruitful life!

As you would expect her funeral was filled with mourning hearts and tears, yet there was the tender presence of the compassion of Christ and the powerful work of his transforming love through her life of devotion and service to Him. I have no doubt of Jesus embracing her in Heaven with the affirming words, “Well done thou good and faithful servant”.

Good Friday may be the day of tears and mourning, but we know the Son will rise and conquer death and sin. As he wipes away every tear we know He is our hope and the fulfillment of God’s love for us throughout eternity.