Thursday, May 23, 2019


The Ice Cream Cone
By Brita Crouse

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

It was a hot and humid day; sunny skies with the threat of a summer storm in the distance. I was in a different country, surrounded by a group of chatty teenage girls, and I was feeling overwhelmed by my new surroundings. But, mostly I was just feeling hot. We were making the mile walk to a nearby pond to go swimming and escape the heat.

One bold girl in the group held my hand and walked in step with me as we made our way toward the relief of the cool water. I distracted myself from the temperature by asking her lots of questions about her favorite things, to which she politely responded. We discovered that one thing in particular we had in common was our love of ice cream. A few minutes into our walk, she ran to another adult in the group and, in her native language, insisted we make a stop at a local convenience store. The girl ran inside the small shop and a few minutes later emerged with two strawberry ice cream cones. One for her, one for me.

I was praying for a better understanding of Christ’s sacrifice for us during this Easter season when God brought to mind this sacrificial moment. This girl, who had very few material possessions, used her limited spending money on me, a virtual stranger. She had no idea what her impact on me would be. It was the best ice cream I’ve ever had (and I really love ice cream). She demonstrated Christ’s love by giving, even when she had very little to give. And it got me thinking, do I live my life like this?

In my own little world, I collect more “stuff” with each passing birthday and holiday. Rarely do I give away what I have. It’s not very often I use what I can offer to bless others. There is always an excuse, a reason why “I can’t.” There will always be excuses, but I am wondering what life would look like if we put the excuses aside and lived sacrificially?

Jesus showed us the greatest example of sacrifice by giving up His life for us. In our lives, we have the chance to tell others about this sacrifice, not only through words, but through our actions as well.

Living sacrificially is not an easy task, but there is much joy in it. Sometimes all it takes is sharing an ice cream cone.

GOING DEEPER:
1.    When have you been shown sacrificial love?
2.    How can you live more sacrificially?

FURTHER READING:

Brita recently moved back to her home state of Wisconsin where she works as an Elementary School Counselor. She and her family have attended Oakwood for 20 years.