Love vs. Hate
So, this week we finally got on a plane and came home! Yay! It was a wonderful, crazy, long summer, and we loved it, but we are so glad to be back in our own space and settling back into our own crazy version of normal.
Saying goodbye is always the hardest part, and this year was easier in some ways, and not in others. On one hand, there wasn't so much unknown this year. I know my parents will be fine, skype worked out great for us last year and it will again this year. On the other hand, it was hard to leave my sister and know I won't be there when she brings her precious child into the world. As we got ready to leave I got many well intentioned but painful comments from well-meaning people who tried to sympathize and tell me how sorry they felt for my poor parents and wasn't my sister just going to be devestated to have the baby with out me. They just couldn't imagine how awful it would be.........such helpful things to say. I don't take lightly, leaving my family behind, and so of course these comments always give me pause and make me consider what we are really doing. Is it worth the cost? In my reading this summer and again in our small group before we left, this passage was brought to my mind; Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Having read it many times in years past it always made me uncomfortable because I couldn't understand it. But, someone explained it to me well. If my priorities are right, then my relationship to Christ will be so primary in my life that it will at times cause me to make decisions that in comparison make it look like I hate my parents, sister, even children. But, Christ should be so primary to my life, that I make the hard decisions to follow Him, even if that means I leave behind or put in second place my other relationships. It might look like I hate my parents because I have taken my children to the other side of the world. It might look like I hate my sister because I will not be there for this wonderful milestone in her life. It may even look like I hate my children because I have brought them to live in a strange and sometimes dangerous place. But none of that could be farther from the truth. My heart breaks for those things, but although it breaks for what I wish could be, I still have to follow my first love. My savior is worthy of first place, even if it means that other relationships will suffer.
Praise the Lord that I have parents and a sister who embrace this truth, who encourage me and rejoice in what God has called us to do. Who never place guilt or ask us to turn back. They pray for us, love us, and support us with all their hearts. They can do this because they also understand that He is worth the price. They have counted the cost (and there is always a cost) and have acknowledged that in the end it is worth it, because He is worth it. I love them so much and am so thankful to have them. So, don't feel sorry for them, or for us. II Corinthians 4:17-18 "This light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things which are seen but the things which are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things which are unseen are eternal."
Saying goodbye is always the hardest part, and this year was easier in some ways, and not in others. On one hand, there wasn't so much unknown this year. I know my parents will be fine, skype worked out great for us last year and it will again this year. On the other hand, it was hard to leave my sister and know I won't be there when she brings her precious child into the world. As we got ready to leave I got many well intentioned but painful comments from well-meaning people who tried to sympathize and tell me how sorry they felt for my poor parents and wasn't my sister just going to be devestated to have the baby with out me. They just couldn't imagine how awful it would be.........such helpful things to say. I don't take lightly, leaving my family behind, and so of course these comments always give me pause and make me consider what we are really doing. Is it worth the cost? In my reading this summer and again in our small group before we left, this passage was brought to my mind; Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Having read it many times in years past it always made me uncomfortable because I couldn't understand it. But, someone explained it to me well. If my priorities are right, then my relationship to Christ will be so primary in my life that it will at times cause me to make decisions that in comparison make it look like I hate my parents, sister, even children. But, Christ should be so primary to my life, that I make the hard decisions to follow Him, even if that means I leave behind or put in second place my other relationships. It might look like I hate my parents because I have taken my children to the other side of the world. It might look like I hate my sister because I will not be there for this wonderful milestone in her life. It may even look like I hate my children because I have brought them to live in a strange and sometimes dangerous place. But none of that could be farther from the truth. My heart breaks for those things, but although it breaks for what I wish could be, I still have to follow my first love. My savior is worthy of first place, even if it means that other relationships will suffer.
Praise the Lord that I have parents and a sister who embrace this truth, who encourage me and rejoice in what God has called us to do. Who never place guilt or ask us to turn back. They pray for us, love us, and support us with all their hearts. They can do this because they also understand that He is worth the price. They have counted the cost (and there is always a cost) and have acknowledged that in the end it is worth it, because He is worth it. I love them so much and am so thankful to have them. So, don't feel sorry for them, or for us. II Corinthians 4:17-18 "This light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things which are seen but the things which are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things which are unseen are eternal."
Comments
Post a Comment