A joyful moment....

This morning I enjoyed a sweet and joyful moment with one of my children. It was worthy of mention just so that I can remember why I am training these children and to look back and see how much fruit we have reaped in the process. Some days I wonder if my boys have heard or comprehended a word we have taught them over the last years. Some days when I find their pajamas on the floor, I wonder if they will ever catch on...after all I've only been teaching them to pick up their clothes since they were old enough to walk! But I have learned to not look to the results, but just to be faithful to keep training them the way God has asked me to in His Word.

Well, back to the story. This morning, we had a little bit of two kinds of cereal left that needed to be finished off. It really was just enough for the four of us to have breakfast. Of course, there was 3 servings of the kind they didn't want, and one serving of the kind they did. Austin was the last to the table, and Luke and Vance had already been served, so I asked Austin if the other kind was good for him. Austin paused a minute (which really meant, "No I really don't want that kind"). Before I could even wink an eye, Luke was handing his full bowl of cereal to Austin with a huge smile on his face. I think tears came to my eyes. He had actually sacrificed what he wanted for his brother, and he did it on his own and with a joyful heart. Precisely the way God calls us to sacrifice and think of others as more important than ourselves.

Philippians 2:2-4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

I was so proud of my son this morning. It is these little things that give you hope that in the future, all the hard work, training, and love will someday pay off. All I desire is that someday he will really and truly understand Christ's love and sacrifice on his behalf, and see his need for the Savior's forgiveness and turn in repentance towards him. That is all I want for all of my boys. Academic success, having their own family, being able to live a full life...these are just icing on the cake in comparison to that. The eternal state of their soul is what really counts, for the soul lives forever.

John 10:18 Jesus said "No one has taken it (my life) away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."

John 14:6 Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life;
Nobody comes to the Father but through me."

John 15:12-14 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
You are My friends if you do what I command you."