February, 23, 2010 - Cultivating Compassion & Appreciation

So, I'm up earlier than normal. And I can't get this nagging feeling out of my head, that I'm on the wrong track.
Jared and I have always known that we wanted to serve God through various ministries. Not only that we want to do it, but that we were made to do it.
We do serve in small ways, but we have full time jobs which we are very grateful for.
As we work so hard to provide a "better life" for our children, I realize more and more every day, that providing the "better life" for them may mean that we hinder the cultivation of compassion, appreciation, gratefulness. Is this true?

Growing up, I remember getting excited when a teacher would announce a field trip or in high school when younglife would announce the week long camping trips. I would get excited and overjoyed and then very quickly would realize that I may not be able to participate. The worry and fear that we could not afford it was very real to me. Sometimes through Gods provision, I could go and sometimes, I could not. As an adult, I can appreciate these times of disappointment and wouldn't trade them for anything. Just as we draw closer to the Lord when we are brokenhearted, we can draw closer to the value of appreciation, in the same way. It was because of the times of disappointment, that the times I could participate were even that much more enjoyable and appreciated.

Is it just me or is the attribute of appreciation overlooked? How can I instill this value in my children? We cannot just withhold things from them can we? Part of the fear I experienced growing up was because I KNEW we could not afford certain things. We didn't have a car. The costs of "things" were very real to me.

So what do we do? I can't see the other side of the picture, because I didn't grow up in the same type of environment that I am trying to raise my children in. Can Compassion, Appreciation and gratefulness be cultivated in our home? As well as they were for me?


In the meantime, please pray that we would be patient and wait on the Lord to lay the path that is ahead for us.

-KP

P.S. - Many of you know that my Mom and I had a very rocky relationship. But I can give nothing but gratitude for her working so hard as a single mom, to do her best to give me all she could.

Blessings to you this Tuesday!