Selfishness

Something I constantly struggle with is selfishness. You know, that overwhelming feeling that tells you to keep the bigger slice of cake for yourself rather than sacrificially giving it up for someone else. It comes up all the time, in many areas of my life, but lately it has taken the form of selfishness with my time. I find myself reminiscing about the years before children, before marriage, when I had my own apartment. I spent my time how I pleased: I had all kinds of time (and money, for that matter) for creative projects, for going to movies and concerts, for road trips. Mind you, at the time I wanted nothing more than to get married and begin having children! Oh, the irony!

God continually finds creative ways in which to show me my sin and help me turn from it. A couple of days ago my friend sent me an email with a link to a video about a precious baby born with Trisomy 18. Now I know there are lots and lots of stories out there about difficult births, challenging family situations, miraculous healings, amazing tales of how God's grace kept people "alive" through the most depressing and awful situations. And I am thankful for any story of the like I may hear, as God always uses them to point me back to Him, giving me an opportunity to grow and learn spiritually.

But this particular story really touched my heart in a way that I have desperately needed lately. As much as I love my children and am thankful for them, there are days that simply wear me out and make me start focusing on myself again--MY needs, MY wants, MY feelings, blah, blah, blah. This video very poignantly displayed the amazingly UNselfish love two parents had for their baby, despite the heartbreaking circumstances. Not only did this video help me to see how incredibly blessed I am to have experienced so many moments with each of my children, but it solidified my feelings about how each and every life (which begins at conception, by the way) matters to the Lord and can be used to bring Him glory, to show others (in this case, millions) what they are missing without Him.

If only to save more babies from being TAKEN from us, I could NEVER reconcile voting for ANYONE who condones abortion (and by that I mean, favors the mother's "rights" over the baby who is helpless in the matter) even if it means voting for someone else whose policies on the economy, foreign affairs, and health care reform are less than impressive. I'm just saying...
One day I'm going to answer for everything I did on this earth, so I'm going on record as someone who will stand up for the unborn babies.



99 days of cuddling the softest skin, of marveling at the intricacies and beauty of God's creation, of feeling the warmth of a tiny body curled up against you, of staring into dark, innocent eyes, of listening to all the little "newbie" noises... I'm certain the Mooneys wouldn't trade those 99 days for the world.

Eliot's blog: http://mattandginny.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html
Mooney family blog: http://thespectacularvernacular.blogspot.com/