It’s Not Fair!!!!!!

“It’s not fair!” is a phrase that Natalie has begun to say and now Megan has picked up and is repeating.  I don’t like it.  One night at dinner, when I was breaking something in half for them to share, Natalie exclaimed that it wasn’t fair.  I had had a long day and was exhausted.  I looked at her and I asked her what wasn’t fair.  I then proceeded to let her know that it wasn’t fair that there are people who don’t have food to eat and we have more than enough, and that there are people who don’t have a nice, warm house on a cold night like us.  My rant didn’t phase her.

Since I have become a parent I have really seen my relationship with God in a new way.  I always knew that God was my heavenly father and that He loved me.  I knew that my parents loved me.  It wasn’t until I became a mother that I realized how much a parent truly loves their child.  It allowed me to see the Bible verses I had learned as a child in an entirely different light.  For example, probably one of the first verses I can remember memorizing was John 3:16 (ESV) – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  I can’t imagine as a parent loving something or someone else enough to give up my child.  WOW – God really loves me (and you)!

I started to think about the “it’s not fair” outburst with Natalie and Megan and about how many times I have said that to God about something in my own life.  I was the selfish preschooler upset because the “other piece” looked more appealing.  God was the parent looking back at me and saying, “Was it fair that my son came to live on this earth, and then died on the cross for your sins?”  My response, “No God, it isn’t fair.  Thank you for giving us your son, Jesus, and allowing him to sacrifice himself for me.”

I hope that I can stop being the selfish preschooler and instead be the thankful adult and realize that no it isn’t fair, but I appreciate everything that I have and that has been given to me.  I hope that in the busyness of Christmas that you have the time to reflect on what a precious gift it really was to the world when Christ was born.

Merry Christmas!

~Ann