Parents

"But as many as have received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God..."
-John 1:12
     The older I become, the more I appreciate the impact my parents made and continue to make in my life. Even though I am in college and am an "adult", I still need my parents everyday. I don't have a job, so I have to rely on my parents for money. Money isn't the only thing my parents helped me with though. My parents have done so much for me that there is no way I could repay them fully. My parents know this, but they chose to love me and raise me anyway.
      Let's start from the beginning of my life. When I was born, my mother had to grow through incredible pain just to give birth to me. She also gave birth to my two brothers, so she had to give birth to three babies. My parents then had to carry me, change my diaper, wake up in the middle of the night when I cried, feed me, bathe me, etc. What did I do to help my parents at this time? Nothing. I was a baby, so I couldn't do anything to help my parents with anything at all. All I did was cry, eat, and sleep.
      As I got older, my parents had to teach me many things, like how to speak, read, and write. They also had to teach me what is right and what is wrong. Whenever I did something bad and they found out, they had to discipline me. Without them I would have the same view on what is right and wrong today. Also, they had to pay for my school for field trips, various school fees, and church trips. By this time, I could sort of take care of myself, so my parents didn't have to watch me all the time, but I still needed them.
      Today I still need my parents for food, a home, a car, and college fees. If my parents decided not to have children, they would so much more money and time for themselves. It seems like having a child is just a burden on them. Furthermore, most kids don't appreciate the effort it takes to raise a child, and take their parents for granted. I know that I have taken my parents for granted many times. So why would anyone want to have a child?
      Sadly, today many people believe in abortions, which I find very troubling. In the Bible, having a child was considered a blessing. In Genesis 17, Abraham is conversing with God, and God says that He will bless Sarah and give her a child. Whenever people could not have children in the Bible, people would look down on them, because they believe that God did not have favor on them. Honestly, having a child and raising a child is not easy. I don't know where mothers and fathers can find the strength to raise them, except through love.
      The only way to raise a child I believe is to love them. If a parent does not love their child, then they will not raise them correctly. Everyone needs to love; especially children. If you want to see an example of a great parent in the Bible, look at God. God is the heavenly Father, and He showed through His sacrifice how much He loves His children. He knew that like any young child we can't do anything to help God, and that we desperately need someone to care for us. Just like a baby would die without a parent to love them, we would die without a Savior to love us. God doesn't expect us to be able to save ourselves, He just wants us to accept His love for us.
-Smart