Sacrifice

There are all kinds of sacrifice; a number of ways in which it is given or done.
When I think of sacrifice, I think very much of my youngest son Reese. But not in the way of what I do for him, more of how much he has sacrificed for me and our family.
I wonder at what the situation was before he came to earth. He had to have known it would be very hard on him. That he would have challenges and trials a typical person would not encounter. Did he know how physically hard this life would be for him, how painful it would sometimes get?
Did he understand some of the things he would have to suffer through?
How did he feel knowing he wouldn't be able to do the things most other spirits with physical bodies would? Did he know that although this life is simply a dot on the timeline of eternity, when you are here living and experiencing it, it can feel much much longer.

I believe he was given a very specific calling for this life, one that would require him to come here like he did. One that in the end would result in great blessings for him.
I do believe he knew the hardships he would face here, maybe not in every detail, be he still knew his life would be very different, difficult, and limited none the less.
And I believe part of the reason he was willing to sacrifice the life he might have had, was because he knew how much his family and the people whose lives he would be in, needed him to come in the way that he did. We have great lessons to learn from our children who are so very special.
I think of how much he sacrifices with patience everyday, while we learn the lessons he is here to teach us. I think of the excessive love he must have for us, while he continues to forgive us daily of our shortcomings or wrongdoings.

My little Reese's life here will not be an easy one. He will have to suffer through many hardships and pain that we will not be able to take from him. He will always be dependant fully on our care - never being able to do anything for himself in this life.
But I still find the sacrifice he makes for me greater than anything I could do for him. He has taught us love and compassion that we may have otherwise not known. He has brought our family closer together and helped us to more literally understand giving our sorrows and burdens to the Lord when it is too much for us to bear.
He brings a constant spirit of Heaven into our home, with a light great enough to comfort all and anything if we are humble enough to feel it.
I see how much he has already taught his brothers and sister. About love, and thinking of others and meeting his needs before their own. I can't tell you how many times my children have sacrificed something they wanted or needed, because Reese was in need of something instead.
Or how much they've altered their lives to think of him, and if what they want is something he can do, or would enjoy, or is beneficial to him..
It is Charity, the pure love of Christ, that will have us sacrificing our own wants, and sometimes our own needs for others.
But something very important I've learned through my own experience - if you love someone, it ends up not really feeling like a sacrifice at all.