Love, From a Parent's Perspective {Tuesday Muse}

Disclaimer: I'm not a parent myself, so I don't know the depths of their love. However I have seen this love in action, and I still see it day to day.

It was a hot summer afternoon, my sister and I were young.

Visting family in the "lower 48", we were attending a picnic. The congenial hum of voices, cousins playing, and the Oregon country side set the mood. Children have a known infatuation with water and it wasn't long before we were begging to "swim" in the hot tub.

Our parents agreed, soon swim clothes were donned and we found ourselves laughing and splashing in the water. A group of protective parents stood close to the pool diligently monitoring our actions.

My sister, a petite young thing, was having a marvelous time, until she slipped.

She went down, down, down.

Mom went in.

As quickly as possible she pulled her soaking child from the clutches of the water and held her tight. Now both thoroughly saturated clung to each other. Relief flooded through both of them.

A nightmare was avoided because her child came first. In only a way a parent can understand self, it mattered little when brought in light of her child.

Love, because... Mom didn't care if she got soaking wet. All she wanted to do was save her baby.

God's love. He gave His only Son.

"...The great love of God for the world, so great that to raise it from its degradation, He gave His only-begotten Son to a most shameful death. ...In giving His only-begotten Son to save sinners from eternal ruin, God was making a greater and more wonderful sacrifice than ever man could make." - The Desire of Ages

Perspective in this video... (If you can't get it to play here is the link.)

Do you see it now? God gave His Son, the supreme sacrifice. Yet we keep rushing by on the train. We don't really care. The amazing thing is God still does.

He wants you!

Today linking up with A Rural Journal.

Courage

Courage - what does it mean? According to C. S. Lewis, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." Tests. Trials. Tribulations. No one is exempt. It's what we do during these circumstances, the choices we make, how we react; that determine true courage.

Courage |ˈkərij; ˈkə-rij|
/noun/
The ability to do something that frightens one.
Strength in the face of pain or grief.

Jehoshaphat was courageous, but he was also afraid. Courage and fear, antonyms that go hand in hand. Fear in and of itself is not wrong.

It is what we choose to do with fear.

It is how we react.

And it is wrong to succumb to fear.

Strong and courageous men and women are often afraid. However in spite of this fear, they go forward. They press on. Fear builds courage.

Back to Jehoshaphat. He and his people knew that alone they were defeated. They had no might against the multitude coming upon them. They admitted they didn't know what to do. However, they did know their God heard their cries. With an unshakeable confidence the people put their trust in the heavenly King. The outcome of the conflict was His.

Now it wasn’t their battle.

It was God’s.

This is what God said to them and says to you and I today, "Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you."

You will not need to fight.

They were surrounded, outnumbered, and threatened. Yet they did not have to fight. They stood still and watched the salvation of the Lord. Courage, they didn't trust in themselves, but in God. Every odd was against them. The flames of doubt could have leapt high, but they continued to trust.

We see courage expressed in our daily lives. The lump you get in your throat when you hear the heroic stories of  911 as men and women willingly risked lives for others. The times people put aside self for their fellow man. Heroic stories are built upon the foundation of courage. However, all the acts of men can never compare to the the most courageous act ever.

It was a dark night in the garden. The weight of every sin in the world pressed in upon this pure life. Jesus was sweating great drops of blood and this was only the beginning. From here He would go to be betrayed. He would be scourged, mocked, and then beaten again. One blameless would life would shoulder the iniquities of the world.

One life.

One man.

One chance.

That was it. One mess up was all it would take. And this is where it should shatter your heart, where every fiber of your being should be broken. It was a choice. Everything He was going through could have been avoided. Every tear, heartbreak and brutal beating could have been thwarted, but at an infinite price. Y-O-U.

You would be forever lost. Courageously He breathed His last breath with you on his mind. "For God so loved the world..." It was a choice.

There are two paths and now the choice is yours...

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

-Robert Frost

Courage, my friend...courage in the Lord... 

People. Places. Perspectives.

People. Because in the end it all comes down to people. The people who mean the most to you. The ones who make you smile, laugh and cry, all at the same time. The friends who are family.

Those are the times when you realize how beautiful life is. How precious is each day. Memories you will always treasure. The times you wouldn't trade for anything in this world.

It's a feeling, a gratitude hard to put into tangible words, but you get the idea. I'm thankful: for friends and family who care, for serving an all knowing God, and for new chapters in life.

Spending time in a different state for spring break. Lots of stories and so much fun. Late nights and laughter. Most of all praying together, seeing people touched by Him.

Perspective. A new one. God never ceases to amaze me, watching and seeing where He leads.

 Moments. Smiles. Laughter. God. Friends. Life. Love. Happiness. Sunshine. Family. Forever.