A Few Posts Back...

Sacrifice: An act of giving up something of value for the sake of something that is of greater value or importance What this means to me and examples in my life:

1) Most importantly when I think of sacrifice, I think of God. He gave up His ONLY son to die on the cross that who ever would believe in him can have eternal life. God sent His ONLY son to die a horrible horrible death for me (and of course for any one else who believes in Him). I can't even imagine how He did that. I can hardly let my kids go to school some mornings because I miss them. (I know that is ???) God sacrificed for me, He did that before I was even born...WOW God sure must love me! And I know he does! I am a child of His, in fact when I first believed I became and adopted child of His! I am so thankful that I know God and LOVE him with my whole heart!! I know that I could have stuck many Bible verses in here, but I am talking from my heart and what I know. (and many verses fit here)

2) Another example is my family, my mother and sister specifically!!! They are sacrificing their lives and their plans to take care of my family while we travel and bring home our son. My sister will be moving in while we are gone. My mother lives up the road so she is close. But she works full time and drives an hour each way and lately my dad has been really under the weather! So, in addition to my sister working almost full time she will have the responsibility of my kids, two Dachshunds, our grandmother and still has her family to take care of. My whole heart brims over with gratitude for my mom and sister. They are the best!!

3) We as parents sacrifice for our children. Whether it be sleep or that last treat..we do a lot. Of course that goes along with being called a parent, but still we do it for our kids. And LOVE it.

Heart: A muscular organ that pumps blood through the body AND A person's feelings or capacity to love or compassion What this means to me and examples in my life:

1) I have a heart that beats the way God intended it to beat and work. Thank you God for my heart!!

2) Some people would call me emotional, maybe that is true...but my heart is touched by so many things. Sometimes it hurts so bad for something that it actually feels physical. Unfortunately there are many things that cause this to happen. Lately it has been thinking about my son so far away and so out of reach. Death of course, at the end of this month will be two years that my great-uncle passed away. I was there just minutes after he passed. I could hardly let go of his hand and stop caressing his head!! Then at the funeral I felt my heart was going to burst out of my chest in such pain. I couldn't let go of his hand then either...brings tears to my eyes right now. I literally could not let go...now I know it was his body and all that, and he was dancing and singing up in heaven, but I couldn't let him go. At the cemetery, oh my that was awful!! It was so cold...

3) My capacity to love is given to me by God. I am thankful for a loving heart...I am able to love and have compassion that sometimes even surprises me. This is something that I hope to impress on my child to ask God for a heart of compassion.

Patience: The capacity to tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without becoming angry or upset What this means to me and examples in my life:

1) Um, wow look at that definition. Guess what? After reading that I have learned that I really have to learn how to have patience!!!! Now it is something that God is working on in me! I think I am getting it down to just being a little crabby or complaining about it. :(

2) This concept is VERY hard to teach to children!!!! Anyone agree? Or maybe not? They almost understand that waiting and having patience go hand in hand with each other. Maybe they will learn it a lot earlier in life! :)

So, that's about it for a definition lesson today. Think about how you would define these words in your own life and maybe be better at using them in your life...