St. Innocent I
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him... Psalm 103:13
My husband and I took the kids up to the Church and School to get some exercise last night. I put the baby in the stroller, and hubby took the kids in the parking lot where they rode their bikes around. I walked about a mile and the little one wanted to be with her daddy and brother and sister, so that's what we did. My oldest also had a jump rope with her and was practicing that. As I stood there watching my family, flashbacks of my own childhood started seeping in.
My parents used to take us out on bike rides together as a family (I have 2 brothers), we played sports every season and my parents were at every game (don't know how they did that, but they did), I took piano lessons, my brother and I rode horses and eventually my mom did too and we ended up with some horses in our backyard (thanks to dad and a lot of help from friends and family who built our barn), my mom was always home to get us on the bus and off, we weren't allowed to make fun of or talk badly about anyone else, and we also got everything we ever asked for at Christmastime.
While my parents didn't talk a lot about God, it's apparent to me that my parents had a Christian attitude when raising us. There were things they didn't want for us kids based on their upbringing, and I would venture to say they were very successful.
As parents, we all want what's best for our children. We look to our own parents for examples to follow, or not to follow. We all do it. We take what we like and leave what we don't and try to change it to suit the way we want to raise our children. That's compassion isn't it? It's compassion for our children and the outcome we want for them.
God sent His only Son to save us poor, lost souls. He endured ridicule, torture, doubt, all the while knowing it was His Father who created us and could easily take our lives away. But He did it. He endured all of this for His children. We as parents endure certain crosses for our kids, don't we? That's compassion. We would love to be able to take their pain for ourselves if it would only make their lives better.
God, thank you so much for the compassion you have showed me through the sufferings of Your Son. I will always be grateful.
Daily Readings:
Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28 Psalm 103:6-13 Matthew 13:36-43
wonderful reflection Karen. I know being a mother has given me glimpses of just what a sacrifice it was for God to watch Jesus. I also can relate to Mary much more and what she must have gone through.
ReplyDeleteThank you! What a beautiful reminder in a hectic world. :)
ReplyDeleteTherese, you are so right! Thank you for reminding me of that.
ReplyDelete~M~ thanks for coming over. It was a nice reminder for me too. My parents are divorced now, after 38 years. It was hard to come to terms with, and still can be at times, so it's nice to have the "good" memories to fall back on and know that my parents loved us and really did do what they thought was best. And I think they were right on!