A Christmas Gift For The Heart

Episode Transcript

Ethan (00:00):
Raising joyful children in an angry world, a podcast
dedicated to faithful parentsnavigating their families
through a stormy culture
This weekend, the Sunday Times,in a section called the Editor's
Choice, shared a story writtenby a young woman named L.
Daniel.
It's a story that she starts offwith from Christmas a year ago,

(00:24):
and it is a journey that she andher husband have been on as they
discover their daughter has arare disease, a life threatening
rare disease.
She starts off by telling howaround Christmas time last year,
her daughter was not feedingwell.

(00:45):
And so she goes back to thehospital and they say, Oh, it's
your anxiety.
Relax.
She knows something's wrong, butshe takes the advice and she
switches to formula, but it didnot help.
So she goes back to doctors,back and forth.
She kept.
Feeling inside there's somethingwrong.

(01:07):
And after a great amount oftime, finally at a very high end
hospital, she first has to haveher daughter's liquids removed
because of this, this raredisease in her life has saved.
And then she discovers that thisactually is a rare disease that
is life threatening.
I can't read the story, but Ican share a section.

(01:31):
She says this.
This is not the motherhood Iimagined, but it is the one I
was meant for.
And while it has taken me to thedepths of sorrow, within those
depths, it has shown me acapacity for love that I could
never possibly have fathomedbefore.

(01:52):
And as the challenge mounts, Ican now say, bring it on because
I know that my heart has beenswelled not only by love, but by
courage, man, that's aperspective.
And she kind of throws thisthing out there where I didn't
choose this situation, but Rubychose me to be her mother.

(02:14):
And then it describes, and thiswas really the point of her
article, she and her husbandstarted a movement in Europe
called Go Rare.
You can find it on the, on theweb.
And it is to support and raiseawareness for research and
pharmaceutical companies to curerare diseases, because it's not
the most profitable thing to do.

(02:36):
She never denies the difficulty,but she gives a perspective on
this that I think fits into theChristmas season.
See, we enter into Christmas andthe joy, the celebration, and
there's nothing like giving yourkid.
Every once in a while you givethat thing to your child that
they really love.
And man, it just strikes up anice feeling in your own heart.

(02:57):
But there's something about El'sstory that addresses another
gift.
I believe it's the gift thatevery parent wants to give their
kids, actually wants God to.
And that's the heart that loves,that's filled with courage and
kindness and encouragement andrespect.
It's the ability to have aperspective on life, to face

(03:19):
challenges and difficulties.
This is the most important giftthat goes with their salvation
gift.
And man, it takes years of messygrowing up to see it.
All I can tell you is if you'reever blessed enough to be a
grandparent and you see yourchild's love for their children,

(03:41):
that's about when you get theclearest view that the gift has
been given.
This capacity for these virtuesand this blessings that are in
this story regarding the heart.
Those are the gifts that theLord gives.
And for the Christian family, Ithink it's great.
We all want them to be wise.

(04:01):
We want them to discover theirtalents.
We want them to be successful intheir calling, but having a
heart that's loving, respectful,courageous, and encouraging.
That's what the Savior brings.
And that's why I think thisstory was presented, and I hope
it reminds us of this mystery ofour gift giving God.

(04:25):
I think too often Christianity,even in the Christmas season,
it's presented like a lawyerconvincing a jury of the facts
that he or she hopes the jurywill believe to get a decision.
Or it's seen as a set ofdecisions and actions like
attending law school, go tocollege, take the LSATs, enter

(04:47):
law school, pass a bar.
Like some sort of scholastictrack, the heart.
That needs God, virtue, andfaith, and love.
It's not based on information,or human persuasion, or some
scholastic achievement track.
It's not making a good decision,or learning from your mistakes,

(05:08):
and getting a second chance.
All this sort of meritoriousstuff.
Now, you have to understandwe're powerless.
And God, knowing our powerlesscondition, sent the only power
that can take our sin, kill theold nature, breathe life into

(05:28):
the new nature, give a newheart, and reshape our minds and
our hearts.
For our kids and for ourselves,Jesus came himself to rescue us
and to give us all of this.
And that's the Christmas story.
If you do nothing else thisChristmas, pay honor to the
power of that gift that Godgave.

(05:51):
Experience a taste of what it'slike to give a great gift when
you give one to your children.
Because these gifts, they're notbased on being naughty and nice,
but they're on the heart of thegiver.
And in our case, the heart ofJesus comes to give us hearts
that are filled with his love.

(06:11):
And as you go into 2025 and you,you go through your scripture
and you're learning things like,have no other gods before me,
the first commandment, or tolove God in your neighbor, the
two commandments that Jesusgives.
It's because our God is the onlypower capable of putting the
love of God and everything thathe deems virtuous into the heart

(06:35):
of your children.
Ah, this hard stuff, it takestime, as I said, it's not easy,
but I'll say it one more time.
If you're blessed enough to seeyour children grow up and get to
watch them love their children,you will receive a Christmas
blessing that is like no other.
The ultimate battle for theheart and soul is a fight for

(07:00):
identity.
Our king invites our kids toknow who they are, what to
believe, and where they belong.
Until next time, let's rememberthe words for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven.