Do you ever think of the families of the donors? I do… and my heart breaks for them. Yes, they are helping save a life. It sounds so flippant and completely without meaning. I’m a donor, Jeffrey is a donor, Alexa even chose to be a donor on her state issued ID. But have you really thought about those families? Most people think of the one in need of a life-saving organ, but very little thought goes to the families who just lost a life to save someone you love.

I watched the walk of honor once where the donor was being wheeled down the corridor of the hospital to the surgical theater where their organs would be harvested to save the lives of so many. What a heroic gesture and the honor that is given to that individual, who is not actually living anymore is profound. I am humbled every time I think about the sacrifice that must be made in order for my son to have life.

But then I think about the sacrifice of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and wonder why I don’t honor Him like I should on a daily basis. He suffered and died at the hands of sinful man, who, if I had been alive at the time, may have just as easily been mine. He died so that I could have everlasting life. He willingly gave his life so I could live. A life for a life…except in the case of my Lord Jesus Christ, it was a life for countless lives. He died so we could live eternally. Such sacrifice is profound and here on Earth, we can but mimic that gift of life when we agree to be donors.

I want my children to understand how amazing this is and how we should be praying for the family of the donor just as we are praying for a donor. Such a hard thing to pray for because it sounds so self-serving to ask for a donor. But even as we pray for a donor, we must pray for that family. Just as we suffer now, in anticipation of the life saving organ, the family of the donor will suffer at the loss of their loved-one. It is no small sacrifice.