The cost

Everything has a price.

The question is only this: are you willing to pay?

The cost of marriage is the surrender of independence.

The cost of having children is a lifetime of worry, lost sleep, and lack of freedom.

The cost of adoption is the unknown.

The cost of staying home is lost income and diminished social standing.

The cost of homeschooling is decreased flexibility.

Put like that, who would knowingly, willingly  walk these paths?

Anyone who blindly walks into any of them is signing on for more than he bargained for. There is a cost. There is an ugly side. You will see it, or feel it, at some point. And unless you counted that cost, unless you signed away your rights with fully informed consent, bitterness can drop its nearly-invisible seeds into your soul. And before you know it–

The cost of marriage is he always gets his way.

The cost of having children is I never get a minute to myself.

The cost of adoption is this is just not worth it.

The cost of staying home is we barely have anything saved for retirement.

The cost of homeschooling is I taught you this last week!

Life is not–was never— meant to run on a default basis. Our choices are just that: choices. They should be made prayerfully, carefully, fearfully, with a full accounting of what it is that God is leading us into. Christ Himself asks us to count the cost before following Him. He knew that without this step, our tendency would be to hit a hard patch, have the wheels come off and look for someone to blame. “Hey! You never said it would be like this!” Even with the caution flag, we manage to find our way to indignation just fine. We look around at where we find ourselves and forget that while the price of admission was high, the reality is that not buying in has costs, too.

The cost of not being married is no one holding your hand when the phone call comes at 6 a.m. telling you that your grandfather is gone.

The cost of not having children is no tumble of warm bodies to invade your bed every morning.

The cost of not adopting is never knowing for certain that you can love a child who doesn’t share your DNA with a fierceness that catches even you by surprise.

The cost of not staying home is someone else knowing how his day was, and hearing second-hand what made him smile and cry for all but a handful of the waking hours you missed.

The cost of not homeschooling is letting someone else explain the world to your child.

We all have free will. We all have the ability to hear from God, to be called to follow, but to choose, to decide, whether or not to answer the call. We are presented with options every day: ways to invest our time, people to allow into our lives, advice to take or discard. Don’t default. Don’t choose by not choosing. Pray. Count the cost. Because there is one.

Shared at:

The Life of Faith

Joy Focused Learning

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252
{\fonttbl\f0\fnil\fcharset0 HelveticaNeue;}
{\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;\red153\green153\blue153;\red249\green249\blue249;}
\deftab720
\pard\pardeftab720\sl380\partightenfactor0

\f0\fs24 \cf2 \cb3 \expnd0\expndtw0\kerning0
\outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 }