Choose Christ, not comfort.
About a month and a half ago, my wife, Ashley, decided to help a friend out by taking over her classroom while she took a sabbatical. It was the special needs class at our local high school.
Ashley has worked with kids with mental and physical disabilities ever since she was in high school herself (I’m not allowed to say how long ago that was). She never really chose this work, it chose her. Kids with special needs captured her heart when she started working with a boy who had autism. After doing that for a long time, we moved to Carpinteria and Ash thought she might try another field of work. But again, it wasn’t a month and she was taking care of a sweet little girl who had cerebral palsy.
It’s not like she works with these kids at no sacrifice. She would come home everyday with stories about how she is being stretched way beyond her comfort zone (stories that I’ll spare you from for now), but she kept going.
Today is her last day teaching this class. Over the course of the last several weeks, she has gotten sick and super tired. Most recently, she somehow pinched a nerve in her neck causing her left arm and back to go numb, leaving her neck in severe pain. In addition to the class, she tutors a young boy after school and comes home to take care of things around here, including me. Every time I say, “Slow down, call and tell them you can’t come in,” she says, “But the kids…I made a commitment…”
So, I dropped her off this morning for the last time. Trying to protect her, I was a little bothered by how stubborn she was about still going to work, but more proud that she is always determined to finish strong. I love my wife’s tough resolve and soft heart. How in only ways I could see, she chooses Christ over comfort. I want to be like her.
