Small Sacrifices!

This week mom and I were talking and she told me about the lesson she gave in church. The topic was "SACRIFICE." By definition sacrifice is "the act of giving something up." She even went further to say it is the act of giving something up for something better. I have been thinking about that a lot lately! Jordan came home a couple of weeks ago and announced that she made the JV softball team at Boyd!!!! WAY TO GO JORDAN!!!! Last Thursday Jordan broke the news that the JV team would be practicing a couple of hours before school. Friday would be their first early morning practice. For any ordinary kid this would be just fine....but for Jordan this meant that since practice started at 6:45 she would have to attend the 5:45 church seminary class rather than the 7:00 class she was currently attending. Does the word sacrifice come to mind??? What a huge SACRIFICE for Jordan to make. She knows the importance of attending seminary and is also excited to be a part of the softball team, which is why she is willing to sacrifice her time and sleep so she can do that. Now on the other hand, you can imagine my own personal selfish feelings on this subject. Since Jordan has to leave the house at 5:30 - who do you think is taking her??? Yup...ME! Did I wake up Friday morning with a smile on my face and positive attitude. Sad to say...nope I didn't. I crawled out of my warm bed, grabbed my pillow and blanket - and when we got to the church I climbed in the back seat and tried to sleep while Jordan was in class. As I tried to sleep, I noticed a group of ladies joined together getting ready to run. My immediate thoughts were....are they crazy!!! It's way too early to run, and way too cold! Monday rolled around and I adjusted my attitude a bit. I did something absolutely out of character and I decided to join the ladies running. Yes it was way too early and very cold. The route we ran was approximately 3 miles. Did I run the whole time....absolutely not. But proudly I would say I ran atleast 2 miles of it. For those that know me - I am NOT a runner! I don't like running and quite frankly on Monday I wanted to throw up multiple times. But when it was all said and done, eventhough I could hardly breath and my lungs were on fire - it felt good! Monday night and Tuesday I was paying for it. I was sore in places I didn't know I could be! Wednesday morning came and I'm happy to report I didn't back down and ran again. I'm hoping it will get easier each time. SO - I have decided if my daughter can sacrifice, I should be able to also! I am sacrificing my sleep for my daughter's growth in the gospel. (which is definately a something better) AND I'm also trying to learn to love running! Will this sacrifice be easy???? I am going to have to say no! 5:15 every morning will be tough, but totally worth it!
As parents most of us sacrifice a lot for our children. We sacrifice many different things, but I think now - I will remember....am I sacrificing something good for something better???? I know while some of these small and simple sacrifices seem hard, they are totally worth it!