// 28. selflessness //

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To be a good father and mother requires that the parents defer many

 of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. 

As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop

 a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths 

taught by the Savior Himself.

-James E. Faust

I know I'm not very far into this whole parenting gig. But I'm already seeing that being a parent requires no small amount of selflessness. My tendency is to be selfish, so I know being a mother is making me a better person because it is forcing me to put someone else first, all day (and night!) long. 

I know that my parents have sacrificed a lot over the years for me and my brothers and sister. Deciding to live off of one income so my mom could stay home with us. My mom spent the last 25 years of her life homeschooling us. I can't decided if I want to home school or not. I have seen how much work goes into home schooling, and I'm not sure I'm up for it! My parents never owned new cars.  Instead they gave us piano lessons, and violin lessons, and paid for club gymnastics, and home school co-ops  I don't think they would call all of this sacrificing because they did everything with so much joy. But now that I'm an adult I see that it probably was a sacrifice. Sometimes they probably just wanted to drive a new car, instead a rusty old mini van.  Sometimes my mom probably wished she could send us off to school and have a few hours of peace and quiet by herself, but there she was, everyday for 25 years making sure we were learning the things we should be learning. 

Selflessness is a hard thing to learn, but giving freely of yourself is what the Christian life is all about. I think it's beautiful that something as ordinary as family life is just overflowing with opportunities to learn to become more like Christ. The family is the domestic church. Everything starts in the home, learning, peace, life, and faith. If we are lucky we have parents who will dedicate their lives to teaching us those things. 

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us,

 and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

- 1 John 3:16

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