Growth

Memories

As the daughter and granddaughter of Marines, Memorial Day was never just about BBQ’s and going to the beach. From a young age, I realized that Memorial Day was important because it honored those who served, and as I grew older I realized it was not just for those who served but for those who paid the ultimate price in giving their lives to provide me with freedom. Unfortunately, for most, it’s a day that rarely lives up to its name as most people spend it celebrating the present, rather than remembering the price that was paid in the past.

However, remembering is important. I’ve learned over the last year that it’s more important than perhaps I previously realized. While the old adage that those who are prone to forget the lessons of the past are bound to repeat its mistakes is certainly true, it is not only for the sake of a better future that it is important to remember. We remember because in doing so we bridge the gap between the past and the present. In remembering, we understand what is worth celebrating today. In remembering, we acknowledge that we didn’t get to where we are on our own.

Over the last year, my memories have centered around my dad as I try to cling to things that were seemingly innocuous when they happened, but now have special meaning. I try to remember the jokes he told, the songs he sang, and the lessons he gave. Not only because I treasure these things about him, but because they shaped who I am today. I reflect upon the type of man he was because in doing so, I not only honor him, I also remind myself of the the type of spouse, employee, parent and leader that I hope I can someday be.

And it’s for similar reasons that it’s so important to remember those who gave it all for the freedoms we enjoy. In doing so, we help spur in ourselves similar proclivities and habits. And even if we are never called to sacrifice our life for our country, for the Christian we have all been called to be willing to sacrifice for our neighbor. And if you think about it, that’s exactly what the men and women we honor on Memorial Day did.

So let us not cease to remember. Let us not forget the sacrifice of many that have provided us with political freedom, and the sacrifice of One who provided us with freedom from Hell. And in remembering, may God work to bring about the same spirit of sacrifice in ourselves.

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Growth Hope

Abandoned

Working with college students you hear a lot of interesting things. After all, it’s a time in life where people are legally adults and yet are still often isolated from the harsh truths of the “real world.” As these students near graduation, those truths quickly become their reality. It’s a time for them to figure out how it is that they want to contribute, in what arena they will use their talents and gifts, and to set out to make that happen.

It’s not uncommon for students to get to this point and eschew what they perceive as the “easy route.” For example, they don’t want to go work in their parents’ business, because they want to make it on their own. However, these same individuals who revel in their self-proclaimed independence may have no issue using their parents’ connections to land the job they really want. While their words may say that their abandoning the comfort that their parents’ hard work has afforded them, their actions demonstrate that they have no trouble reverting back to it when the benefits are too tempting to pass up.

Similarly, we often face the same reticence to abandon our former ways when it comes to our relationship with Christ. We may find its easy to proclaim that we willing to give up everything for Him, and yet, when comfort calls, we often revert back to those temptations we hold dear. I may say to God that I’m willing to go to the ends of the Earth, and yet I’m unwilling to give Him my desires and dreams. My words may indicate a departure from my past, but my actions demonstrate otherwise.

However, as a great song by Hillsong United reminds us, is not just our stuff that we have to give up for the sake of Christ; we have to abandon everything – our very soul – for Him. We say that we want “Jesus to come live in our hearts” but in reality being a Christian means giving up our heart to Him.  There is no half-way. We can’t cling to ourselves and have Him. We must let go of it all.

And in His graciousness, He’s promised to reward those who do so. When, for His sake, we abandon all this life affords us, all the benefits of temptations and the comfort of living for ourselves, in the next life, the life that lasts for eternity, we will have all things.

It’s not easy. After all, we are all too familiar with what we know and desire; we know well the convenience of sin. And yet, it’s only in giving up what we claim as “ours” that we get that which really matters. It’s only in abandoning self that we get Him.

 

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