I remember dating in high school and college and I can’t recall there being any sacrifice, irritation yes, but sacrifice no. It was for the most part all about short-term fun. Then (many years later) I became a mom and my life was suddenly filled with sacrifice, but something curious happened. With that sacrifice came an almost exponential growth in my ability to love. I now understand that sacrifice and love go hand in hand and that has made me a better mom, wife, friend, and general human being.
I also think it’s one of the reasons The Light series came to me when it did. In the trailer for Through the Ashes, you’ll see the crown of thorns, the ultimate example of sacrificial love, juxtaposed with the antagonist of that book. This character embodies the belief that love and life should not be about sacrifice. He believes others should be useful to him and if they aren’t, then there is no reason for them to exist. You may think he is extreme in his beliefs, and perhaps he is, but many others (in the world he lives in and in the world we live in) believe the same.
As a mom, there are times when I’m so focused on the sacrifice (laundry, cooking, picking up socks, dishes, homework, driving kids around to something they want to do while they are screaming and fighting and making me wish for a sound barrier between the front and back seats) that I forget how blessed I am to have two beautiful boys to sacrifice for. Now, on Mother’s Day I am hoping to eat at least one meal without getting up 5 times to refill a child’s plate or cup or telling two children 15,000 times each (not an exaggeration) to sit down and finish their food. But if that doesn’t happen, it’s okay, because love, real love, is worth the sacrifice. Plus, my kids are really cute. I’m not sure how the whole sacrificing thing is going to go when they are more smelly and less adorable. Totally kidding – well mostly kidding.
Here is the trailer for Through the Ashes, and Happy Mother’s Day!!
~ Jacqueline