Choosing to Sacrifice

I was thinking the other day about how we, as moms are constantly sacrificing. I don't know what got me started on it. Maybe it was a conversation about the difference between a mom's home life versus a dad's. This is absolutely no knock on men or the job they do as fathers. I just think that for the most part and from what I've seen in my own life and in the lives of my friends and family, mothers are more inclined to make sacrifices for their children.

But why? Why do I hear so many women talk about the hobbies they've put on the back burner or the last bite of ice cream that went into another's mouth or the letting go of the desire to move forward in their career? I think it's because we have been made to give.

This is not a revolutionary thought, but it was to me. From the moment a child is conceived, we start to give. It is involuntary. If you've ever had morning sickness, you know that your body is putting you second and the baby first. You have to take extra vitamins not just to ensure the baby's growth but also to ensure your own health because your body will take care of that little one before you. We make conscious decisions to care for the life growing inside of us, by doing things like cutting down on caffeine or not eating sushi. But in so many ways, we don't even have to choose to care. Our bodies, our "being", is designed by God to care.

How can we expect that once that child is breathing air with his lungs, jumping on the bed, sitting at the kitchen table doing homework or walking down the aisle at her wedding that we can halt that action that is so deeply rooted in who we are?

Not that we should try to halt it, but why don't we change our perspective? Why don't we change our attitude? Instead of bitterness or frustration with the constant sacrifices we make as moms, why don't we see it as an extension of the sacrifice we naturally made for nine months? I was able to assist God in a miracle. He used me to bring a new soul into the world. I involuntarily gave of myself because it's what God designed me to do. Now I will give of myself because I choose to. I have the freewill to love or not and to sacrifice or not. Thank you, God for leaving it up to me. It makes the love greater. The sacrifice more meaningful. I will choose to continue to care for the child you entrusted me with.