Giving my kids what I did not have

As I said previously , this stems from my family history.  

My family grew up on the Navajo reservation. My grandfather knew poverty.  He lived it on the reservation in Northern AZ.  One story he often told; especially when I was ungrateful for something I got or when I was disappointed in something I received, is the time he chose to fast for two days so that the rest of his small family could have something to eat.  On the third day, he was able to find a cow from his little herd to sell at the trading post for food.  My grandfather was poor. But he taught us to sacrifice to get things for your family that you do not have. 

My father worked hard as an upholsterer.  He learned his trade at a career center in Brigham City, UT where he earned his GED.We lived in the inner city of Ogden, UT.  We had a tiny little house from an FHA loan.  But it was eventually ours.  My dad worked hard to move from poverty to middle class.  So we moved to the suburbs to follow dad's work--the company left the inner city for a new development where there was a better promise of more work.  My dad was working poor, but sought to give us the things we did not have.

Then God called him to be a pastor among my Navajo people.  We left the suburbs of Ogden, UT for the Navajo reservation.  I lived in poverty with my family.  Our family did not have running water, only an outhouse, and no electricity.  We heated our house with wood chopped daily.  So I have experienced the challenges of poverty after living in the shadows of luxury in the suburbs.  

But by God’s grace and hard work, I am experiencing the blessings of the United States. I got scholarship money to complete college, get two masters, and now serve God almighty as his minister.  

So now I struggle with the feelings that I want to give my kids what I did not have.  It began with my grandfather who sacrificed many things to start my family on the journey to where I am today.  But God speaks into every heart if we will only listen and obey. I wonder what you hear God telling you to do for Him this Christmas.