Sin-a very good definition

John Wesley asked his mother how to define sin to which his mother replied, " Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, what takes away your desire for spiritual things, in short if anything exceeds the authority and the power of the flesh over the spirit, that becomes sin however good it is in and of itself.

A High Calling

I have someone I admire very much. This person makes daily sacrifices to make my life better and easier. She gets honored once a year but that hardly seems adequate. She is not my mother but she is the mother of our two boys and I want anyone who ever reads this to know how much I admire her.

We live in a day where the stay at home Mom is often second class and certainly not considered to have a desirable position in life. While I am not against any woman who works a job outside the home and am understanding of those that try to do both, it is my belief that there is no higher calling on this earth than being a devoted full time mother.

Our world has lost an admiration for woman hood. Peter Kreeft professor of philosophy at Boston College in the book For Heavens Sake says "...we have a civilization that is in the midst of what Cal Stern called the Flight From Woman. We extol action over contemplation, doing over being, analysis over intuition, problems over mysteries, success over contentment, conquering over nurturing, the quick fix over life long commitment, the prostitute over the mother."

My wife gave up her own desires and a good career that paid good money to pour her daily life into two little boys. Our society has become selfish and my wife has chosen selflessness, many women want power and she chose meekness. others choose financial gain and she invests in eternity.

Raina, you should know that your are incredible, irreplaceable, you are beautiful and I am so glad you are my wife and the mother of our boys. I could not say it often enough that I am eternally grateful for the sacrifice you make every day (and in the middle of the nights) to make sure our home is filled with love and peace. NEVER think for a moment that what you do is anything less than a divine calling and more important than any amount of money you might be able to make in a job. Don't be discouraged on days when your patience and composure is tested by the little ones because your reward is GREAT! Proverbs 31:28

Bad Trade

My son was so excited about going to Disney World for his first time. We made the mistake of telling him we were going a week in advance which made life difficult as he tested our patience while he asked repeatedly if we can go to Disney World. " No son, not right now. We have 6 more days. 5 more days..."

Down the street from us is a 5 acre fun park with go carts putt-put and video games. Our not quite 3 year old in his limited understanding proposed in one of his inquiries as to when we were going to leave for Disney, a trade. "Can we go to Frankies Fun park now instead of Disney World?"

He knew nothing of Disney's vastness since he had never been there nor seen it in a picture. He was willing to trade a rinky-dink fun park for the mother of all fun parks for his immediate satisfaction.

It dawned on me that we are not all that different. We are willing to give up eternal reward and never ending bliss in exchange for immediate gratification here on earth. Just like Connor, we have never been to heaven nor have we seen pictures so we have no clue that we are trading such rubbish for mind blowing glory.

Are you trading up, or down?