A Call to Die

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When I was a teenager, I loved daisies.  One year, I decided to plant daisies from seed.  After the first batch grew and bloomed, the pods withered and died.  A friend told me that I could take dead heads and spread the seeds.  I did what he told me, and the following year, the size of my garden multiplied ten fold!

Jesus said in John 12:24-26, " Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

These may be difficult words at first.  However, the more I grow in my understanding and love for Christ, the easier these words become.  This life I live is not about me.  There are many moments and days that I wish it were!  A harsher reality is that this life is not about my kids (I'm pausing to let that sink in).  My life is about following Christ to the best of my ability.  While that includes mothering my children and being a wife to my husband, my identity cannot reside in those roles. 

So how does this play out in my life on a daily basis?  I think I am still a work in progress.  Praise God for grace.  But I try to allow Christ to permeate everything I am and all that I do.  I try to allow Him to affect the choices I make in how I love my husband and my children.  When I am at work, I try to allow the fruit of His Spirit to overflow in my teaching.  Perhaps, it is not necessarily about what I do all of the time, but it is about who I am. 

One of the most rewarding things I see is when some of the youth I have had in the past post on Facebook, words about their faith.  My prayer is that I played a small role in their spiritual journey along the way.  But to see another generation flourish in the faith is the legacy I want to leave. It is my passion and my aim in life.  It is the prayer for my children and for all those I encounter.  

 




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