God on the Go by AllMomDoes - You Are a Gift to Your Parents - YMD (You, Your Mom, and Your Dad)

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You're just saying that because you're my mom. You have to say that. If you ever said that to your

mom or dad when they say, hey, you did a great job on this or you're such a wonderful person,

or I really like how you did such and such, and you say, you have to say that.

Because you're my mom or my dad. I'm Julie Liles Carr, and this has got on the go,

where we help you make the minutes matter as you are in that school pickup line,

as you are getting on the way to soccer practice. We really love helping you have the conversations

that matter the very most. And we're starting a new series today called YMD. What does that stand for?

You, your mom, and your dad. YMD. I did it too. I will tell you for sure that there were

things that my parents would say to me, and I would just really discount it because I thought,

well, you have to say those things. You have to give me that compliment. You have to tell me that

you think I'm wonderful because you're my mom and dad. But here's what I want you to know. You truly

are a gift to your mom and dad. You really are the best thing, one of the very best things

that God could give to your family. And so when mom and dad are telling you about something they

like about you, or something they appreciate about you, or if you're feeling down or feeling

awkward about maybe the way you look, and your mom or dad says, you're beautiful, your handsome,

you're amazing, and you just blow it off. Well, they're being really sincere. You are such a

precious gift in their life. Let me tell you what something is. It's very interesting when it comes

to parents and kids. Do you know how much it costs on average per year to raise a kid in the United

States? Are you ready for this number? If you're raising a child and you're doing just a lot of the

basics, you're not trying to make it real fancy or anything else. It's probably going to cost

around $20,000 a year to raise a child year over year. And I know that some of the moms and dads

listen are like, we're spending more than that. But that is how much your parents love you.

Not that it's about a dollar amount, but that it is about what it takes to raise kids today.

The cost of raising kids, the challenge of raising kids, all the emotions that go into it. It is a

gift that parents really work hard for. It is something that they're thankful for when God gives

it to them. At least that's the way it's supposed to be. You may have a situation in your life that

that's not how it feels. You may have a friend and they have a parent who has walked away, who

doesn't understand the gift that they've been given, but God in all the best ways, in all the

ways that are the best in terms of how we can live our lives. He intends that having kids in your

family, it's a huge, huge gift. Psalm 1273 says, children are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward

from him. There are so many people in the Bible who wanted children and who were having a hard time

having kids and some of this helps us understand just how precious a thing it is when God puts a

child into a family. I think about Sarah and Abraham. They had to wait a very, very long time

until they had their son Isaac and he was the only child that God gave the two of them and they

were so thankful for the gift of him. There's Hannah in the Bible, Hannah and Elkina and Hannah

so desperately wanted to have a child and she prayed and she cried out to God and she eventually

had her son Samuel. She was so grateful and so thankful for this gift from God that eventually

she gave that gift back over to God and helped pave the way for Samuel to live his life in God's

service. And then we also read about Jesus' cousin John the Baptist. He was another baby to his

parents Elizabeth and Zachariah. They didn't think they would ever be able to have children

and then God gave them this incredible gift in their son John. Sometimes it's when we have a hard

time building our families that we understand just what an incredible present that it really is

to be able to build a family. However, that happens, whether it's through adoption, through

birthing a child, through fostering different kids, any time a child comes into a family.

However, the way is if that child comes into that family, it's such an incredible gift.

So the next time that your parents are telling you something that they love about you that they

think is amazing, they're paying you a compliment and you want to blow it off because you're like,

they just have to because that's just because their parents, hey, listen in, it's really important

for you to know. Your parents aren't saying those things because they have to. They're saying those

things because they're so grateful for you. So grateful to have you in their life and you know

what? Your parents are also a gift to you. How do we treat things when we know that there are people

who don't always get to have that experience? How differently would we look at things? How much

better would we love and accept and be there for each other if we really understood that when

God puts us together in families, we are all a gift to each other.

I want to send a big thank you and shout out to George Fox University. They have been with us

on this podcast for a long time as our official sponsor. George Fox University has such a beautiful

approach to education. It's definitely something that you want to check out for your up-and-coming

college students. So be sure and go to GeorgeFox.edu to get more information. And I'll see you next time

on God on the go.

Thanks for listening. We just wanted to take a minute to let you know that just like you and your

family, purposely is also part of a family. The Christa family of ministries. Christa helps kids and

teens learning grow in their faith at King Schools and Miracle Ranch Camp. And Christa shares

Jesus with people in the poorest most remote places through world concern. Christa senior living

as a community of love and care and Christa media is a place of hope on the radio. God is changing

lives through these five ministries and Christa is on mission to share the good news of Jesus.

To learn more, visit Christa.org