Sacrifice brings blessings.

The church I belong to has a lay clergy.  The members who make up a congregation serve in various capacities as leaders, teachers, etc.  We do it on our own time.  Many churches have unpaid opportunities to volunteer their time and means.  This is not unique to our church (although the fact that each bishop, the leader of a congregation is unpaid, is, perhaps, more unusual).  Each family is also invited to clean our church building twice a year.  Each member(at least in our area) above a certain age is assigned to work in the local cannery, which cans food for those in need locally and abroad.  Add to that the multitude of needs that crop up in our ward or community for which we volunteer our time and means and it makes for a service-oriented life, to say the least.  Most members are given a calling, a position in the church that contributes to the functioning of our congregation as a whole.  These are not positions we choose or volunteer for, per se, in fact, we are invited to serve in very specific callings for an undetermined period of time by the leaders of our congregation (usually a bishop).   It is a way of demonstrating our commitment to the covenants we have made to serve the Lord and keep His commandments.

Sometimes callings are uncomfortable.  Two years ago, I was asked to serve as the accompanist for our ward choir.  Having only taken two years of piano lessons in my entire life did not qualify me to accompany a choir, in my opinion.  I was terrified.  But I said yes, knowing that "whom the Lord calls, he qualifies."  And boy howdy, did He ever.

Sure, I sat through many a choir practice, kicking myself for botching up the tenor line as we practiced parts, or for plunking out errant notes in the accompaniment.  I got sick to my stomach pretty much every Sunday I had to perform and I'd pray fervently that I'd do nothing to distract from the beauty of the singing (because, let's be honest, as an accompanist, my job is to NOT be noticed but make the choir sound good).  My anxiety levels went through the roof some Sundays.  It was truly a sacrifice.

But I loved that calling (of which I was relieved a month or so ago).  I played songs I would never have bothered with before, deeming them too challenging.  I had a reason to sit down at the piano on a regular basis, sharpening my skills, setting an example for my piano playing (but not always practicing) children.  My home was filled with beautiful music.  My kids got to watch me struggle through something - endowing them with the reassurance that even Mom has to do hard things.  The blessings don't end there.

So here's my point.  This is just a small example of the sacrifices I've made as a token of my faith in God.  Accompanying a choir was extremely uncomfortable for me.  I've done things that were downright scary (hello, missionary for 18 months halfway across the world, anyone?) because I believed in the promised blessings.  And each time I've accepted the challenge, I have watched my knowledge and capacity to accomplish grow, I've enjoyed increased wisdom, learned new skills, developed compassion, made new friends, and on and on and on.  The invitation to serve is one that is rewarded tenfold.  I've seen that again and again.  And I'm grateful for this most recent calling, which allowed me to see those blessings in a very measurable way.