chosen

our Father came & died for us. He chose to make us His. it wasn't just something that happened... He chose to love us. 

"do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." philippians 2:3-7

everyday i have to choose to love my sweet husband & my boys. i have to choose to serve them & lay myself down for them. it doesn't just happen because i have the title "mommy" & "wife". i have to choose it & choose them. do i count them more significant than myself? do i look to their interests before mine? do i empty myself daily for them & take on the form of a servant? often i act as though they are "taking something from me", like "i deserve more." in rachel jankovic's book fit to burst she wrote an amazing chapter about this! this is how she encourages us to imitate Christ in this... "we esteem others greater than ourselves, & that turns into action. you will be humbled. you will have opportunities to humble yourself further. choose to do so gladly, not resentfully."

are we choosing them & giving of ourselves, our lives & our time gladly? or are we counting all the things that we don't have time for anymore, the things we can't buy because we are spending more money on them, whining about how tired we are, falling apart because we can't get our bodies back to what they were before we had kids? are we giving ourselves or acting as though they're stealing it from us? 

what a joy to love & serve these ones that have been entrusted to us! may we be found faithful by His grace & through His strength!

al