Sacrifice

I have been thinking a lot about what sacrifice truly means the last few days. My life has been so greatly blessed by the sacrifice of others and sometimes my mind can't completely wrap itself around what all of this means, but I am working on it.

A few days ago my Brother and his wife were able to adopt their second child. He is beautiful and perfect and they are so happy. They have been so blessed by their two beautiful children and their children are blessed to have them as parents. The birth mom chose them early on and has involved them in all of the aspects of this pregnancy. They were even there when the baby was born. She was insistent that they were there to witness the birth of THEIR son. What an amazing, strong, woman she is. She loved this baby so much that she was willing to give him to a family that would be able to provide for him in a way that she would not be able to. What a sacrifice! When it actually came time to sign the papers she struggled. I can't imagine how difficult a decision that must be. But despite the pain that this decision was causing her, she still wanted happiness for this child of hers, so she gave him to Ben and Lori. She gave her child to parents who longed for children but could not bare their own. What an amazing example of sacrifice.

A year and a half ago, Jared received the gift of a kidney. He would have eventually died without this gift and life would be so much more difficult. A family that I do not know and who doesn't know us made the decision to donate their loved one's organs. When an organ is donated, the donor's heart still has to be beating in order for the organs to be transplanted. This means that the families have less time to say good bye to their loved ones. They must say goodbye while the heart is still beating and the body is still warm. I can't imagine the grief that they must have felt and how easy it would have been to just be swallowed up in the sorrow and not think of others. But they didn't. They wanted their loss to create life for others. This too is an incredible example of sacrifice. Because of their sacrifice I have a beautiful, healthy, happy son who is growing and thriving! I couldn't save my son, so this family gave us something that we couldn't give him ourselves.

The greatest sacrifice of all was the sacrifice that Christ made for all of us. He was perfect! He was God's son! He did nothing to warrant the pain and suffering that he suffered. But he sacrificed his life for us, because without him, we would never be able to return to our Heavenly Father's presence. I can't imagine the grief that our Heavenly Father must have felt as he watched his son suffer. I can't imagine the pain that Christ felt. It is hard to even comprehend the love that they must feel for all of us, if they were willing to go through those experiences for us.

A friend told me that maybe we have experiences like these so that we can better understand the true sacrifice that Christ made for us. Life is hard. It is hard to feel so much sadness and helplessness when there are problems that we cannot solve ourselves. And it is times like these that cause us to pray and hope and trust that God knows and understands. And he does! He just wants us to trust him and have faith that these trials will be for our own good. And often times our pleas for help are answered by the sacrifice of others. I am so very grateful for those who have sacrificed for me and for my family. They have given me gifts that have blessed and enriched my life and I pray that I will be able to be an answer to other's prayers in return.