Lately, the word “sacrifice” has been prominent in my thought-life.   It’s a theme that has been showing up in more and more areas of my daily grind, and so  I’ve allowed myself to really spend time thinking about what sacrifice means and what God wants to show me while wrestling with the topic.

Sacrifice I think has a ill-connotation with society today.   The thought of losing something, especially if we find joy in it, is just not an option for many people.   We have our “good” lives, and so when we’re asked about making sacrifices we run and hide from the notion.   We’re afraid of losing what feels good here-and-now, without knowing what is awaiting us on the other side.

As a father, making sacrifices has been a reality of life, although it hasn’t always been easy to accept.   More than ever, my time and energy has been consumed in ways that maybe I didn’t initially plan on them being spent on during my drive home from work.   My financial goals are being sacrificed for diapers and formula.   And the list goes on, but I’m learning to be okay with that.

As I have been reading in scripture, sacrifice isn’t about what we’re giving up, it’s about obedience.   We often choose not see the opportunity to obey God when he’s the one asking us to give up something we’d like to control ourselves, but it’s what he’s truly asking us to do.

Reading in Genesis, I read the story of Abraham and Isaac:

22:1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

No where in this passage is a hint of grumbling or fight from Abraham.   His love for God was great, and so his first reaction was obedience, even after waiting so many years for Isaac (a child) in the first place.  And he showed he was willing without knowing what was to come next.    He was willing to sacrifice something he loved out of obedience.  

As a father, I can not imagine being asked to sacrifice my son.   However, in my heart I know that there are much smaller things that God is asking me to sacrifice in order to obey him through my love for him, that I grumble and fight him about daily.  God might never ask me to give up a loved one, but the small things he does want me to give up are equally important.

What about you?   What are the small things that you don’t want to lose, but know that God is calling you to lose?

Grace to you, Andy

It’s been too long since we’ve gotten pictures of Logan up online.  With the holidays and kid on the move, sorting thru the pictures to find ones to share didn’t get done before Christmas, but here they are now.   Please enjoy.

For Christmas this year, in lieu of a gift for himself, my brother asked Chelsey and I to write a letter not to him, but to Logan, that he will share with him one day.  My letter was requested to be about friendship, and how to maintain solid friendships.   I liked the idea, and feel lead to share it here.  Hopefully future letters will follow.

December 22, 2009

Logan,

At the time of writing this letter, you are eight months old and full of joy. Your mom and I are pretty overwhelmed with how good you continue to be. You are laid back, cool, love to jump and climb on us – you are great child.

I write this to you as a challenge from your Uncle Josh. He’s promised to give it to when appropriate, but I’m not sure when that will be. I hope that whenever that is, my words below are reflections of what you have seen to be true in my life as you have grown and developed.

At this moment in your life, people comment regularly about the similarities between us. As your father, that makes me proud. But one of the most important similarities between us (and probably even more of me as a kid) is the way we love people. As an eight month old, you are scared of no one - always sharing your smiles and laughs. As a dad, I hope that is always true, and so that’s what I want to talk about: relationships and friendships and how they fit together.

At that time you read this, I’m sure it’s safe to say that you will have met hundreds and hundreds of people. There are people everywhere, everyday that we interact with. And each person has the opportunity to change our life. Some of those people we have brief conversations with and will maybe never see again. But some folks you will spend substantial amounts of time with, and these are friends.

Friends and family are the most important relationship we can develop. They need to be handled with care.

Friends however are different than family because you can’t pick your family (you’re stuck with mom and I), but you can pick your friends. So here are some things I’ve learned over the years with my friends that will hopefully help you as well.

• Some friends will move on (like kids in the neighborhood or at school) and some will only be present while you are participating in an activity (like soccer or baseball). However, some of those friends will transcend those boundaries, and continue to be part of your life regardless of the activities and location you have in common with them – these are likely to be or become your closest (aka, best) friends.
• Friendships go through seasons. They are always changing. Even close friends will at times seem distant. These times can be really good but hard as well. Be patient and know that even though it doesn’t seem like it, they probably miss your companionship as much as you miss theirs.
• Everyone is different. You and I are different. Mom and I are different. Each of your friends are different. You must remember to treat them each as their own person. Everyone has something to offer you - you just have to find out what that is.
• Similarly, if we expect everyone to be the same, then we will likely hurt someone feelings because of unfair expectations we are holding them too.

So those are some basic ideas and guides that hopefully help build friendships. However, as with every relationship, the hard part isn’t typically the initial stage, but rather the ups and downs of maintaining those relationships in the long run.

I think if you were to ask around, as this has been true for me, that some of your closest friends are the friends that you have the healthiest conflict with. I believe that how we deal with conflict with our friends will have the greatest impact on those relationships. Here’s a few things I’ve learned specific to conflict and dealing with it:

1. Conflict is normal! It will happen. Don’t run away from it.

2. Your best friend(s), no matter how similar you are, is different from you. You will disagree with them. Again that’s normal.

3. Most disagreements that you have with people are just plain dumb things to debate about. Unfortunately, we don’t always see that until we have gone different ways.

4. You will lose friends over disagreements. It’s never easy, but it is true.

5. You will become stronger friends with some because of disagreements. These are the people you know will have your back.

I am reminded of a quote I heard once from Thomas Jefferson –

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

Friendships can be very similar. Some will come and go, but lasting ones will hold up over time. You’ve got to know when to go with the tide, and when to take a stand for yourself as well as to respect each other for their values too.

A few months ago I blogged about the name Logan James and where it came from.  Well on July 31st, we actually were able to take Logan to camp and share the story with him.   Here's some video from our first trip to camp:

Here’s what you’ve all been waiting for: Pictures!