While I was watching the Olympics, I saw one of those personal interest stories that grabbed my attention. The story was about Oksana Chusovitina (from the former USSR, now living in Germany) and her son. (http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=801/bio/index.html) She won a gold medal in 1992 and is now one of the oldest gymnastic competitors at the age of 31.
In the special feature, she told about the story about her son who developed leukemia. She said:
When a child is born, everything in life changes. You live for someone else. I would give my entire life for him.
You live for someone else. You live for someone else.
Those simple sentences express the heart of most parents for their children. How often do the children realize that concept? I remember when our grandson was born last year. Our son said "Everything is different now." He suddenly saw all of life differently. He saw us, his parents, differently.
As Christians, we are children of God. If those sentences express the heart of a fallible human, how much more do they express the heart of a perfect God? Not only would He give His entire life for us, He did give His life for us. How often do we consider God's heart for us as we go through everyday life?
Oskana ran into a road block in getting treatment for her son in her native country, so she began searching her gymnastic community to find help. Though friends in Germany helped Oksana find a place for Alisher's treatment, she was uninsured and had no way to pay for it. A the 2002 French International in Paris, an announcement was made about Oksana's situation and the global gymnastics community rallied, donating enough money (about $200,000, including a large sum from Liukin's World Olympic Gymnastics Academy) to defray the costs of his treatment and allow Oksana to stay in Germany with her son. Though the contributions helped, Oksana continued to compete because prize money she earned financed his care. "If I don't compete then my son won't live; it's as simple as that," the 27-year-old Chusovitina told Reuters in 2002.
God's devotion to each of us far exceeds what any mother or father would do for their child.
