Tag-Archive for ◊ spouses ◊

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What does the word “sacrifice” conjure up in your mind? What Does Sacrifice Mean to You?

To our military personnel sacrifice is giving up their personal lives to fight for our country. It means leaving spouses, children, family members and friends, and sometimes it means never coming back. That is truly an enormous sacrifice.

The spouses of these individuals are faced with the burdens of maintaining a household and the needs of their children single handed. Although my husband did not go into the military, I was divorced and left to be a single mother for two beautiful daughters. I know first-hand what this entails. It is not an easy task.

It seems recently there has been a lot of mention on TV programs about World War II and those that lost their lives. Mention has been made of all of the medals they won and what heroes they are. But what a void remains in our hearts for those that never returned home.

I was barely born during World War II, but I do remember the Viet Nam War. I remember holding my breath as my husband’s draft number came within two of the cut off. Our daughters were just babies. I lived in fear of losing him.

We do not even have to relate the sacrifice to war. How many people serving our communities as police officers, firemen/women have lost their lives to save the lives of others? Sacrifice is a daily part of our lives.

Another sacrifice that was brought to my mind was those who lost their lives under the cruel rule of Adolph Hitler. Lisa Kudrow was on the TV show, “Who Do You Think You Are”, and traced her ancestors. She learned the fate of those who were stripped of their clothing, executed and pushed into the pit of destruction. Imagine if you were a child who had escaped and were watching this from a distance. The horror of seeing your parents or family members lose their lives in this fashion is incomprehensible for sure. There was a joyful discovery in locating her father’s family members who are still alive. This brought tears of joy to my heart.

We are faced with various degrees of sacrifice in our lives. With the economy the way it is many families have been faced with losing their homes, cars and other possessions just to have money enough to buy food and feed their children.

Single mothers go without food themselves so that they children will have food to eat. Homeless people go without shelter, food, clothing never losing sight of the hope of finding assistance.

As parents we sacrifice our desires to fulfill the needs and wants of our children. These are joyful sacrifices, as far as I am concerned. We are truly blessed to have these children, if only for a short time.

With Easter approaching my thoughts and heart are awakened thinking about the supreme sacrifice that God made for us. Sending his son Jesus to show us the way and then Jesus’ supreme sacrifice of dying on the cross to save us from our sins. I am sure you will agree that Jesus’ sacrifice can never be duplicated. I am forever grateful for Jesus and the cross at Calvary.

As a final thought, I recently heard it said that the greatest gift of love is not what someone is willing to give, but what they are willing to give up …. This is a true sacrifice.

I hope that your sacrifices will be few and your lives absent of want and filled with His many blessings. Ultimately, I hope you will never have to ask, “What Does Sacrifice Mean to Me.”

Judy Conway
Email: judyconwaymarketing@gmail.com
http://fullservicemarketingtools.com
http://homebusinessinatlanta.com
Skype ID: judy.conway

Category: Children, Christian, family, home, Inspirational | Tags: Adolph Hitler, calvary, Children, cross, families, food, friends, God, History, homeless, Jesus, Judy Conway, Lisa Kudrow, militarypersonnel, parents, Police officer, sacrifice, shelter, spouses, Viet Nam War, Who Do You Think You Are?, World War II | Leave a Comment

Your Children’s Understanding of the Economic Bailout

Author: Judy Conway

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There is so much in the news nowadays about the economic bailout situation in our country. How can our young people not hear about it and wonder how it affects them? I am sure there are many parents wondering exactly how much information they need to share with their children, especially concerning their personal financial situation. I hope that what I have to say will shed some light on that issue and also help with the guilt that I know parents are feeling at not being able to give their kids all the want.

I remember a time in my life that I was suffering from hard personal economic problems. My girls were 11 and 12 years old. I was recently divorced and a struggling single mom. Financially, we did not have much. It was in 1981 and granted things were a little less expensive. We lived in southern Florida. I became a pro at feeding my girls on $10.00 a week. Although we did not have money in our pockets we had a lot of love in our hearts. We were blessed to have found an awesome church family at the First Christian Church of Boca Raton. The first time I walked into that church my thought was, “These people really love one another.” They reached out to me and my girls and truly showed us the love of Christ. I am forever grateful to this family of friends.

When Christmas came I just didn’t have any money for gifts. The girls needed new nightgowns so those were more of a necessity than a gift. I felt so very sad. My children had been through a lot. Divorce is not easy on the spouses, but it is very difficult on the children as well. Christmas Eve I wrapped the nightgowns and put them under the tree. I sat down with a very heavy heart and cried. Why is it when we can’t “buy” things for our children we feel like failures?

As I sat there that night I wrote my girls notes that ended up being my true Christmas gifts to them. Sometimes, as parents, we try to hide our feelings from our children. Don’t under estimate their ability to understand. I found that with being “real” with my girls we were very close and shared each other’s burdens. My notes simply, but sincerely, told them how much I truly loved them and was there for them. I expressed my sadness for not being able to buy them lots of gifts…but I did give them the greatest gift I had to offer….My Love!!

The nightgowns were a hit but let me tell you the notes ended up being very special gifts. I was never afraid to say, “I’m sorry”, “I made a mistake”, or most importantly, “I love you” to my girls. There were times when the stress of a day caused me to lose my temper and composure and I would find myself sitting on the bottom of their beds tearfully apologizing. I used to say, “When you came into this world, God did not have instructions tied on your toes!” I was the first to admit, I was not perfect, and I made mistakes.

I hope that you will find in this financially difficult time of the year that you can be honest with your children. Simple joy will benefit us all more than beginning 2009 in debt and facing a personal economic bailout. They can handle a lot more than you think and in the long run you will draw closer together and be able to share the best gift you can give each other….the love in your heart.

I truly wish you hearts filled with love, an awesome Christmas and a 2009 that will be filled with lots of “Aha” joyful moments.

Blessings,

Judy Conway

This post was written on December 13, 2008

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Category: Children, Christian, Christmas, Inspirational | Tags: 2009, burdens, Children, Christ, Christmas, Christmas Gifts, debt, divorce, economic bailout, financially difficult time, First Christian Church of Boca Raton, Florida, gifts, God, guilt, Judy Conway, money, parent, parents, spouses | Leave a Comment