Nat ural Schoolhouse
The Sacrifice of Praise
“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
our lips giving thanks to his name.”
(Hebrews 13: 15)
Well it’s been a few trying months on the
Carter Farm. It seems we’ve been going
through a season of loss. We lost one of the
little lambs that I wrote about in our last
issue, had predators wipe out all of our baby
chicks and steal our eggs, and have battled to
keep any piece of lawn equipment running
all summer. It’s been rough, folks. And I
wish I could tell you that I’ve handled it all
with strength and grace, but instead I have to
be honest and tell you that it’s torn me apart.
It’s made me question what in the world
we’re doing on this farm, what business we
have trying to take care of animals, and why
we’re spending so much money when we
just keep failing. And don’t even get me
started on all of the projects around here
waiting to be done!
Or the amount of money those projects
require.
Or the time.
Or just how busy I already am and how I
certainly don’t need one more thing to
manage.
Because I can so go there. But it’s not a
really fun road to travel, you know.
Does that ever happen to you? Do you go
down that road when you can’t seem to
juggle all that’s on your plate? Do you
wonder if you’re doing enough book work
with your kids? If you’re reading enough to
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them? If it’s all your fault for not making
them brush their teeth better when they have
cavities? How about when the kids fight
with each other; does it make you wonder if
you’ve been too lenient or too strict?
I think everyone deals with those types
of feelings, even homeschool moms. Face it;
with husbands, kids, laundry, cooking,
cleaning, paying bills, making doctor
appointments, and teaching on top of that—
we have a lot on our plates.
Yet, instead of throwing a world-class
pity party or beating ourselves up with the
coulda, woulda, shoulda’s, I think there
comes a time for the sacrifice of praise: the
kind where you bite your lip when you’re
tempted to beat yourself up because the
house is a wreck, the math lesson is a flop,
or the garden is lost among the weeds, and
you turn your thoughts to God.
Romans 12: 2 reminds us, “And be not
conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
It’s not easy. (Boy, it’s not easy.) We have
to renew our minds—day by day, hour by
hour, and sometimes even minute by
minute! But I think that that’s why it’s called
a sacrifice. The sacrifice you’re making is to
not dwell on the negative. Not even about
yourself! Scripture tells us in Zephaniah
3: 17, “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee
is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over
thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will
joy over thee with singing.”
