Bible Verses

What No One Told Me About Having Four Kids: You Will Learn to Serve Like Jesus

December 23, 2011 By Erin Crispin 4 Comments

Today I want to share one more lesson that has deeply impacted me because I have been privileged to be the mom of four young children. And that is that as a mom I have been given just a very small glimpse of what it means to sacrifice your life for others in the way Jesus did.

It seems that the message of American culture tells me a few things:

1. You should look out for yourself.

2. Your life should be easy and free from struggle or hardship.

3. People that make your life difficult should be kicked to the curb.

4. At the end of the day, if you have made yourself happy, then that is all that matters.

The longer I have been a Christian, a wife and a mother, the more I see through the smoke filter of these lies. We were not created to simply look out for ourselves and create a life that would bring us comfort and ease. And we see this most clearly in the example of Jesus and what His coming, life, death and resurrection meant for people. Jesus showed us that:

1. True joy is found in laying down your life for others.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
(1 John 3:16 ESV)

2. Life will be hard and bring suffering if you are living a life in accordance with God’s will.
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
(Philippians 1:29 ESV)

3. The people who are most difficult are often those who need your love and grace the most.
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
(Mark 2:17 ESV)

4. At the end of your life, if you have shared the message of Jesus and loved others well than you have fulfilled your ultimate purpose of bringing glory to God’s name.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
(2 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV)

These truths have become more real through being a mother than in any other part of my life. And especially in being a mother beyond what I thought “comfortable”. I am so thankful (although I don’t always act thankful) that I have been pushed beyond my limits with having four young children. And I understand that I have not even been pushed nearly as far as many. But I know what it is like to:

- have requests made of me almost every waking minute of the kids’ days
- be the last to sit down and eat the meal I prepared
- hear very little “thank you’s” in relation to the work that I do throughout the day
- have no “day off”, but be on call 24 hours a day
- try to squeeze in my own time for things like quiet reading and prayer, exercise, and even blog posts

All of this has shown me that Jesus coming to earth was a bigger sacrifice than I can ever imagine. He suffered and served and loved and shed his own blood for His people who wanted nothing to do with Him. He chose the road of suffering, hardship, pain and abandonment. He washed a man’s feet that he knew would deny he even knew him a few hours later and prayed for those who killed him. Jesus did not succumb to the instant fix or temporary pleasure that this world has to offer.

May we reflect this Christmas weekend on what it truly meant for Jesus to leave the right hand of the Father and come to earth to suffer alongside us. To bear our sins fully on Himself so that we might never bear them again. May this weekend not be just about giving gifts to loved ones, but about blessing those who have no hope and are unlovable. Praise God that Jesus did that for us and has left us the power to do that for others as well. May your Christmas be merry and bright as you shine a light for Jesus.

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, Parenting

Kids and Tell Your Brother His Fault

September 29, 2011 By Erin Crispin Leave a Comment

I mentioned yesterday that when the kdis come to me with a complaint about one another, my first comment is to usually ask them to please name their sin in the situation. After they have done this, my next reminder comes from Matthew 18:

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
Matthew 18:15

Unless someone is in danger, I tell the kids that they first need to try and work their disagreement out between each other. It is amazing how quickly something usually dies down when they have to deal with it with one another. They know that if they come back to me again, they need to tell me the steps they took to try and resolve the conflict. And even then, they will probably be asked if this is something they can overlook out of love for the other.

Every time I tell the kids to first go to the person who offended them, I am convicted. We as adults are not very good at this. We gossip, we “ask for prayer for a situation” to another person or simply hold a grudge against someone who has no idea they have done anything wrong. And even more convicting is to think about how often we simply bear with one another in love for the sake of Jesus.

I want our children to be lovers of grace and in order for that to happen, I need to love extending grace to others. I need to speak about evidences of grace I see in people’s lives and in situations I find myself in. May your day be full of the grace of God today,

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, Kids and ...

Kids and Taking the Plank Out of Your Own Eye

September 28, 2011 By Erin Crispin Leave a Comment

In the past I have done a few series of post on Kids and _____, which have highlighted different issues we have been thinking or working through with our kids. But as of late, I have found that often what I am continually repeating to my kids is what God is trying to teach me in this season of life. So over the next couple days I thought I would give you a glimpse into the current things that being a parent is teaching me.

The number one thing I find myself saying almost consistently throughout the day is in relation to Luke 6:42 (also found in Matthew 7:4-5):

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

A lot of my day is spent hearing “Mooooooooom, Abby/Elijah/Naomi did __________.” And as any parent, or simply human being knows, when there is a problem, it is very rarely just one person’s fault. There is usually multiple sins that are contributing to any situation. So throughout the day, I am often reminding the kids to be more concerned about their own sin, rather than someone else’s.

But every time I remind the kids of this, I automatically have to turn my own words right back on myself. How often am I annoyed by someone else’s pride, only to be convicted that it is my own pride that has caused that annoyance. How often do I want to point out the sin in someone else’s life when I have much of the same in my own life? Or (one of my most amusing ones) how often do I complain about others complaining?

I know that our own household would be a much more peaceful place if the same amount of effort that was put into pointing out others shortcomings were put into killing our own sin. So I can only imagine how much peace we could each bring to our own little corner of the world if we would each employ the same mindset.

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, Kids and ...

Basket Wives Know About Serving in Shadows

September 12, 2011 By Erin Crispin 1 Comment

When I saw the title of the blog post from the Desiring God Blog pop up, I knew it was going to be one to hit me right between the eyes:

Serve in the Shadow God Places You

If there is one thing that I struggle with immensely or one battle I hear other basketball wives fight on a consistent basis it is the fight to be at rest with remaining in the shadows when you are married to a man who is in the spotlight. Let me paint a little picture of the way I have to battle against my sin in this area.

Last year, my friend Eddie and I were coming back from the pediatrician where she had helped me get Isaiah a check-up. She needed to stop in at the pharmacy to pick something up and the pharmacists began talking to her. This was Eddie’s second season there and people knew her well and she introduced me as well. She then mentioned that we would be having some of the players over for a Thanksgiving meal to celebrate our American holiday. Eddie exchanged a few more words with one of the women and then we left. When we got outside, she told me the woman had jokingly said that us wives should have a dinner for the fans because of all THEY do to support our husbands. I am pretty sure at that moment that you could see steam rolling out of my head. WHAT THEY DO? I was so irritated by that comment that I wanted to march back in there and let her know who it was that REALLY supported my husband. Perhaps I should tell her about the hundreds of meals I have cooked in a country not my own for my husband. Or the numerous times I have had to rub out the knots in his muscles or suffer through sleepless nights as he tosses and turns or be the one sounding board for everything that is going on in his life while we live away from our home community. Or maybe she wanted to hear about how I was by myself with four young children in a foreign country or how I had to bear the emotional brunt of my children missing home or not having an outside area to play in. Maybe then I would suggest that the fans might actually want to hold a dinner for US since without us there may not even be a team!

So after I had that little rant in my head, God of course quickly convicted me. Who was I really doing this all for? Did I need people to recognize what I go through? Do I need to have part of the spotlight my husband has or even have him recognize and appreciate what I do. The answer was simple: No, I do not NEED that.

This is an area I struggle with greatly as Joe’s wife I have mentioned it before, but this article brought it to me fresh again. Although for the most part I am very happy to stay in the shadows, there are plenty of times that bitterness and envy creep in. This post was a great reminder that God calls us all to different ways of serving and it is not the service that counts, but faithfulness in serving where you are. When I am living to please God, I can be content knowing that I am doing what He wants me to do and that my reward comes from the peace and rest I find in being exactly where He wants me. Having rants like I do in my head is certainly not peaceful nor a blessing to anyone.

I am often reminded of Isaiah 29 when I am struggling to accept where God has placed me in the shadow of my husband:

You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”? (verse 16)

God knows exactly what He has made each of us to be and He knows exactly how to form each of us into the image of His Son. For some it is through the pressure of the spotlight and for others it is through the loneliness of the shadows. But each is perfectly planned by a loving Father who does not make any mistakes.

May you faithfully serve where He has placed you today,

Filed Under: Basket Wives, Bible Verses, Christianity, The Basket Wife

Vacation Reminder #3: Love Is a Sacrifice

August 12, 2011 By Erin Crispin 2 Comments

Any parent knows that when you go on vacation, the trip away may be a break from the normal routine, but nothing about it is relaxing. As the mom, I pack up for 5 people (trying to anticipate any situations we may encounter) and then spend the time away trying to keep all the children from hitting meltdown due to less sleep because of a new environment, exciting activities and overstimulation. So although the week is enjoyable, it is still very much a sacrifice and I often come back more worn out than I was before I left for “vacation”.

The sacrifice of going on vacation and giving your children the opportunity for an enjoyable time is just a small microcosm of what it means to truly love another. All people are broken, needy human beings, so in order to truly love them, you must give of yourself. So many of the problems we see in families and marriages today seem to stem from the fact that we have forgotten that love is a sacrifice and hard work. We read books and watch movies and ingest the cultural air that tells us love is something that is going to fulfill us, rejuvenate us and make us whole. Not that love can’t do that, but if it is doing that for you, it is only possible because someone else is giving of themselves (or in other words making a sacrifice for you).

Tim Keller puts it well in “Kings Cross”:

All love, all real life-changing love, is a substitutionary sacrifice. You have never loved a broken person, you have never loved a guilty person, you have never loved a hurting person except through substitutionary sacrifice.

In marriage, this is a give and take process. You are both giving of yourselves and receiving in a healthy relationship. But in a parenting relationship, you will always be giving more than you receive back. You will give and give as a parent and be spent for your children. And if you are looking for people in your life to fill back up that space that has been poured out for your children, you are going to become a pretty miserable person.

The amount of sacrifice it takes to be a parent, to give of yourself for the joy of your children, can only been done joyfully when you are looking to Jesus to fill you back up. It is the only reason the Apostle Paul was able to serve a variety of churches with numerous needs:

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. -Philippians 2:17

How was Paul able to be joyful in pouring himself out for others in the way he did? The answers are numerous, but one answer lies a few chapters later in Philippians 4 when he says:

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul asked God for all that he needed. He didn’t look to people to fill his needs. He knew that in asking God for everything, he would be filled with a peace that people would never understand. And when that asking was done with thanksgiving, his joy would increase even more. A supernatural work occurs in our lives when we look to serve others without getting anything in return because we are so overflowing in the amazing love that God provides in Jesus.

May your weekend be filled with a sacrificing service of love towards others as you pour out the love of God that Jesus has poured into your own heart. Come back on Monday to meet our next featured Basket Wife.

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, Our Family, Parenting

Great Feedback from Friday

July 25, 2011 By Erin Crispin Leave a Comment

Photo Courtesy of Catherine Marie Photography

I was so excited to see the feedback I got in the comments and on Facebook from Friday’s post. It is always great to hear from other moms on their tips and to also hear that a post may have encouraged a few other moms out there. Today I thought I would answer and/or comment back on some of the feedback that was left.

My best friend from high school, Rachael, is one of the new moms who I have a care package ready to deliver to when I see her next week. She mentioned that as a new mom you are always second guessing yourself because of all the wealth of information. I thought Maria posted a good tip about really going with your gut on things. Sometimes too much information can be really overwhelming. One thing I would say before even “going with your gut” is that motherhood teaches you to quickly run to God. I was convicted of how little I do this when I had Abby as a newborn. I found my tendency was to want to “fix” the solution quickly. I would run to the internet, a book or a trusted friend, which are all good sources of information, but I was convicted one day as Abby was a few weeks old that I hadn’t “run” to God first. James 1:5 quickly came to mind:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

I had not asked the One who knows the intricacies of parenthood and my child better than anyone else for advice. It was a great reminder to me that motherhood would be a humbling task that has caused me to start almost every day off acknowledging my weakness and asking God for wisdom for the day. That way when I go with my instinct, I am more confident my feelings are in line with what God would have for my children.

Of course, many who know me still know I am a big reader and an advocate for being as well-informed as possible. So since my friend Michele asked about books recommendations, I will point you to my favorite Marriage and Family books in my Amazon store. There are a lot there and a rule I made for myself when I was pregnant with Elijah was to only read 1-3 per year because otherwise I got overwhelmed. My favorite 3 for a parent would be:

1. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
2. Shepherding a Child’s Heart
3. Grace-Based Parenting

My friend Angie also brought up a tip I have passed along to many moms from Joe’s Aunt Carol who was a nurse at Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia (CHOP) for many years. Carol told me before Abby was born to persevere through the first 6 weeks of breastfeeding. Even though I was pretty determined to continue breastfeeding through a year (and by God’s grace have breastfeed 4 children for 12+ months each), that goal of getting to 6 weeks was HUGE for me. She told me that there woudl be pain, learning with the baby and tough times in those first 6 weeks, but after that it would really be a very easy solution…and she was right! I suffered through clogged ducts, soreness and even mastitis in those first weeks with my babies, but it was a short season and a good goal to get me to the time when breastfeeding did THEN become natural and easy. No one ever tells you it doesn’t start off that way!

And lastly, Rachele, another friend from high school, asked about transitioning to 2 children as she is about to do. I have written that I think every transition with a new baby is hard (and adding the fourth was especially tough for me). I wrote a post a few years ago when Naomi was a baby on some things that helped me as a mom of multiple children: More Thoughts on Having Three.

For those who would like some more reading about my journey as a mom, you can check out my series on Our Parenting Journey (it is a category link, so the post will come up from newest to oldest, so if you want to read the series the whole way through you have to go back to the very beginning).

Thanks again for all the great feedback. See you tomorrow,

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, Our Family, Parenting, The Kids

Convicted About My Attitude

July 21, 2011 By Erin Crispin 2 Comments

I mentioned a few months ago that the season in Barcellona had been a tough one for me. And I said that I could maybe more accurately reflect back on it after I was out of the situation. A few weeks after saying that, I started to get some clarity and conviction about my overall attitude about being in Barcellona for the 2010-2011 season.

It started during the last game of Joe’s I was able to attend. I had a surprising feeling of sadness as I thought it being the last game I would attend there. I did not think I would be sad AT ALL to leave there, so when I started to get teary eyed as I sat there and looked back on the good memories, the great people I had met and the goodness God had shown to us there, I was convicted about my lack of gratitude for our season spent there.

Then I got home to the U.S. and was so thrilled to be somewhere where I had sidewalks to take walks on, trash that was picked up like clockwork every Tuesday morning and road signs that were obeyed, that I quickly forgot that nagging feeling of conviction for my bitterness and was able to once again justify my feelings I had harbored during the season. But then Joe got hurt. And the conviction washed back over me again. I realized how short his career could be and how little room there is for complaints about where he is playing. The fact that he is able to play is a tremendous gift and one not to be taken lightly.

So I started to think that I need to confess that sin here on the blog, but it kept getting pushed back. I was reminded of it when someone e-mailed me asking me about Barcellona, remembering how I had said it was a difficult season. So I thought again, how I really needed to set the record straight on the blog how my struggle was not because of my outside circumstances but because of my own heart. “Next week I will write the post”, I thought.

Then this past Sunday the message at our church was on Psalm 103 and the way that complaining should have no room in our lives. BAM! In my face! The message said that we can draw from Psalm 103 three things that we as believers have in Christ that we can always be thankful for:

1. God blesses us with healing of sin and often of bodily diseases.

2. God blesses us with His mercy and grace and not dealing with us according to our sin.

3. God blesses us with the promises of His kingdom that will last forever.

Those three truths trump ANY circumstance we find ourselves in. Their goodness far outweighs any trial we face and gives us no room for complaints of any magnitude. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have trials, but it means that in comparison to all we have been blessed with, they are peanuts. The balance is always tipped in favor of blessing over hardship.

So I am publicly confessing that my attitude at times was not honoring to God last season. I had more than enough to be grateful for and did not always adequately express that. It is pride in thinking that I deserve more, when in reality I have gotten far beyond what I deserve in Jesus. I am even more thankful that God was patient enough to show me my sin several times and expose it for what it was until I came to the point of repentance and confession. Thanks for bearing with me friends,

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, Living Abroad, The Basket Wife

My Little Boo

July 8, 2011 By Erin Crispin 3 Comments

Photo Courtesy of Catherine Marie Photograpy

While talking to a friend during our time in New Jersey, I casually brought up the subject of the struggle that I have had in trying to figure out how to parent our first-born, Abby. She was surprised having only really known me before then through my blog. So I replied that I must not be honest enough on here about the challenge I have had with trying to figure out my sweet Abby.

Abby (to me) is a very complex person. The best way I can describe her to people is that she feels things very deeply. So her high times are very high, and her low times are very low. This works itself out in a number of different ways:

- When she is into something, it is very hard to get her away from it because she can’t imagine that anything could be possibly more enjoyable than what she is doing at that very time.

- If she is not into something, it is very hard to convince her to give it a try. She likes to be able to master something quickly (which she does in many cases in her life), so persevering through something comes as a challenge to her (and to me who is her teacher).

- When she is struggling, it is very hard for her to see outside herself. We call it “the tunnel”. She gets in a tunnel and just keeps going deeper and deeper in, instead of seeing the light and turning back and going out of it. I think we are still praying and working through how to best serve her to deal with her emotions and take control of those moments.

- She can be incredibly critical of others. She sees many faults in her siblings and can be easily frustrated with them at times when they aren’t doing what she wants. At other times though she is an incredible leader and very patient.

- Although she is often proud in esteeming herself above others, her pride is also manifest in being very down on herself. She has a hard time believing that God can love her no matter what and often is comparing herself to her siblings and how much we love her in light of our love for them. Because of her critical nature towards others and herself, I am constantly reminded of how much we need both parts of the gospel as human beings: first of all that we are more sinful than we ever imagined, and second of all, that we are more loved than we ever dreamed (to paraphrase Tim Keller).

- Abby is also incredibly creative and imaginative. I think her personality is bent that way, but I think our lifestyle also plays a part into that because she has to spend so much time alone, so that she has learned to play on her own a lot.

That is just a small glimpse into Abby (my little Boo as I have called her since she was born). It doesn’t even come close to scratching the surface of all that she is. She has taught me more about myself and human nature than probably all three of the other kids combined. And just last night she did so once again.

As we were driving home, we were asking her about her day. She is attending a camp right now where she went in knowing no one at all. I know for me, I would have been pretty intimidated by this, but she is a very confident little girl and had no problem going. When we asked her about her meals, she said she ate with her friend and by herself. After asking her what she meant, she said she ate lunch by herself and dinner with another little girl. When I heard she had eaten lunch alone, tears immediately sprang into my eyes. I felt so sorry for her, but she had said it so matter-of-factly without sounding upset at all. Joe probed a little deeper and she said that some girls she had met had been at a table that was full so she sat on her own. Again, she didn’t seemed bothered at all and even after we asked her a few times if that made her sad, she honestly wasn’t bothered at all. I still tear up writing this and thinking about my precious, special little Boo sitting by herself. But there are a couple of things that I think God has been speaking to me about through this:

1. I need to view God’s work in my children’s lives the same way I try and view it in my own life. I try to see with spiritual eyes what God is doing in my life when things are not easy and comfortable. For some reason, I find it easier to have myself go through trials (although I am still a big wimp in this area too) than I do to see my children go through things. I am really going to need to be on guard against desiring a “nice” life for my children above a “godly” life. I should be praising God for the fact that Abby is secure enough in God’s love for her that she can sit on her own and be perfectly content. The verse I have prayed for Abby since she was very little has been:

The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
– Zephaniah 3:17-18

It is hard to understand the exultant love God has for you and that He is all you need if you are caught up in being popular and liked by everyone. And Abby does not seem concerned about those things at all. I want to praise God for that and realize that God could be mercifully sparing her from many of the mistakes I made by being too concerned about what others think.

2. I need to be careful about projecting my own insecurities onto my children. I could very easily keep talking to Abby about being upset about sitting alone and convince her to be upset about it. But she wasn’t bothered by it, so I need to accept that and move on. The saying “misery loves company” really does ring true with us as human beings. If we struggle with something, we want others to struggle with it too, so we don’t feel convicted by it. If we don’t like someone, we want to try to convince other people not to like that person. We are a people who want to feel justified in our sin, so we try to find others who will struggle with the same thing. But I don’t want to do that with my children. I want to be thankful that Abby can sit on her own without worrying about what others think or feeling slighted.

3. I need to be careful about my struggle with control creeping into my parenting. I know my own heart has plenty of sin in it that is related to wanting to control life. I wrestle with God on many fronts as He patiently exposes areas where I want control, instead of trusting Him. I know that with the kids, it is going to be a battle as they get older to release them to the Lord and not try to “fix” every area of their life. My instinct is to want to go and find Abby a friend and make them trade best friend necklaces. But that may not be what God wants to do in her life right now. I cannot see fully the work her loving Heavenly Father is sovereignly orchestrating right now. And to try and control her life to go the way I think it should could be a very uncaring thing to do. Struggle is a good thing in life and I can see that I am going to need to fight the battle in my heart to want to keep struggles and trials out of my children’s lives.

I am thankful God is patiently teaching me these lessons every moment of the day and pray that my eyes would be open to see all that He wants to do in my heart. May you be blessed with the same this day. Have a wonderful weekend,

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, Parenting, The Kids

Guest Post at Learning in the Grip of Grace

June 28, 2011 By Erin Crispin 1 Comment

Some generous people have recently given me the opportunity to guest post on their blogs. The first of those guest posts is up today on the blog Learning in the Grip of Grace. Hans (author of the blog) is a pastor of Resolved Church in Sydney, Australia (which endears me to him even more because I REALLy want Joe to play one season in Australia some time!). You can check me out there today as I post about “How the Gospel Shapes Me as a Mother to Young Children“. You can also follow Hans on Twitter.

Hans, thanks again for the opportunity,

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, The Basket Wife

What Do Oxen and Children Have in Common?

June 24, 2011 By Erin Crispin 6 Comments

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my greatest struggles is wanting a comfortable, easy life and battling for faith that the hard times are often a blessing from God. And one of the biggest areas this holds true is that of parenting our young children.

Anyone who is a parent knows that parenting is not an easy job. And your children usually aren’t most worried about how to make your life easy and comfortable. In fact, much of what they do often seems to be what will make your life most difficult and uncomfortable!

When Joe and I spent our two nights away in Washington D.C., I was struck by how easy life had been before we had children. I started having thoughts like:

“Maybe we should have waited to have kids and enjoyed our “free” time first.”

“How long until all the kids are independent enough to do things on their own (ie. get their own food, dress themselves, wipe their own bottoms)?”

“Life would be so much easier if we had less kids.”

And on and on. These thoughts would pop up, until the second day there when I read this verse from Proverbs:

Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
- Proverbs 14:4

And that is when God reminded me once again that when things are easy (ie. clean), there is often little fruit (ie. crops) in my life. A farmer will have a nice clean barn when he doesn’t have any oxen, but he will produce far less crops. In the same way, my life would be easier without having had kids earlier or having less kids, but the crop of fruit that God has produced in my life would not be there. I would have learned far fewer lessons about myself, about human beings in general, about how to care for others, about how to selflessly give with getting nothing in return, etc. I would not be the person I am today. And I am thankful for the lessons I have learned and the journey I have taken.

And I am thankful that God uses various ways to remind me that He is doing greater things that just giving me an easy, comfortable life.

Filed Under: Bible Verses, Christianity, Parenting